The Completely Accurate & True Story
by thegloryofspring
Summary: of How Gabriel Saved Everyone's Asses & Stopped the Apocalypse; This is the story of how the archangel Gabriel saved all of humanity with some help from the most ragtag group of creatures in the universe.
1. One

**Okay, so I have a few things to say before starting. I won't be able to put links in like I did on AO3 or LJ, so if you want to see them go ahead and head to my profile and check the story out in those places.**

**So this was written for the Sabriel Mini-Bang over on Live Journal First and foremost, I would like to thank the people over at gsd_rtfn and the sabriel_mini (both communities on LJ) because the only reason this got done was because of the awesome support system they put together. **

**I have a few other people to thank. First up is Mel (ourdivineashes on Tumblr) who listened to me complain constantly and was a wonderful cheerleader. Next is Natasha (levstrong on Tumblr). She not only helped me with the Trickster mythology, but she was an awesome sounding board, helped me flesh out some of my head-canons, let me borrow Chamuel, and helped me whenever I was stuck on what to do next (not to mention a huge ego-boost). She was an absolute huge help. I also need to thank Nadia (life-imitates-art on Tumblr) who was my beta and fixed any of my stupid typos. Last but not least, my artist Gabe (mandos_sama on LJ) who was absolutely wonderful. **

**The way I feel about this story is like a mother feels for her newborn babe. I am incredibly proud and protective of it. I would really appreciate it if you would leave me feedback on what you thought. And don't forget to check out Gabe's art and leave him feedback too. Just…thank you to everyone! **

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><p><em><strong>Chapter One: In Which Gabriel Introduces Himself to You Petty and Miniscule Mortals and Makes A Totally Selfless Decision to Protect the Lot of You Because He Is Just That Awesome<strong>_

First thing's first, my dim-witted and most likely human readers: I am _not_ dead.

Yeah, that's right. This isn't going to turn into a cliché. I _am_ the Trickster, after all. I _create_ clichés – I never follow them. Not if I can help it, anyway. So you don't have to worry about this turning into _The Sixth Sense_ or any of those other stories where you get a narrator that has actually been dead the whole time. I _survive _the Apocalypse. So do those ridiculous Winchesters and my baby brother. We save the day.

Not that you ever realised it, ungrateful bastards. You humans sure do an awesome job at living with your eyes closed. And blindfolded. And tied up.

Anyway, the point is that you are all a bunch of blind idiots who have no idea what's going on around you. And because I am the awesome celestial being that I am, I'm going to tell you _exactly_ how it went down. Don't listen to those other three idiots; they have no idea how to tell a story.

Our story begins with yours truly finishing up a particularly delicious and brilliant trick. Because Sasquatch over here is complaining, you won't get to hear about how truly brilliant it was. But trust me, it was my crowning glory. Right in the middle of this fantastic justice, the Apocalypse started. Because of how blind you all are, you aren't going to remember where you were when it happened. Unless, of course, you happened to be on that airplane that flew over St. Mary's Convent.

But you aren't what matters, silly humans. You're not a part of this story except in the abstract "we totally risked our lives and peace of mind to save your asses" kind of way. What matters is that I was all the way in Oregon when my delightful older brother stepped down onto the Earth in Maryland. Well, burst onto. It's kind of hard to step anywhere without a vessel.

I knew the moment not-so-little Sammy Winchester iced the First Demon and Lucifer popped out of his cage. I could lie to you all and tell you that I was completely awesome and started planning how to stop dear old Mikey and Luci from using your planet as their play-thing right away, but Sam's making me try a stab at this whole concept of "nothing but the truth."

Ridiculous, right? How are you supposed to play a good trick if you're always telling the truth? Just look at Castiel. He couldn't play a trick to save his life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. At this point, I didn't even know my baby bro was down on Earth, much less with the Winchesters. And while I'm being honest, I will say that I spent quite a lot of time thinking. I flew around the world for a bit. Stopped in all my favourite getaways and just watched all of you humans go about your seemingly insignificant lives.

Understand that I've spent a lot of time on Earth. More than any other angel. Most angels come down for a mission and head straight home. I have spent thousands of years living on your planet. And I'm not being hyperbolic. The amount of time I've spent on Earth is a rough estimate to how long you humans have measured time. I've been here for a while.

I haven't always enjoyed it. I'm a Trickster, after all. My job is to find all of the bad apples in your race and teach them lessons. You humans have a lot of bad apples, let me tell you. You're filthy and rude and stupid and blind and don't know what's good for you. You're a horrible bunch that kill and mutilate each other over the most ridiculous things. And that's not even mentioning the _really_ bad people in your histories. I haven't exactly seen the light side of humanity. I've seen the lowest of the low.

I may have considered joining my older brother and wiping you saps off the face of the Earth. I might have also considered joining my other big bro and letting half of you die so I could be with my family again and go home.

The problem with both of those plans, though? Either Michael or Lucifer was going to die.

It isn't something you humans can comprehend, really. Those two have been fighting for all of existence. It was their niche, you know? I was the one that always joked around and spread Dad's word. Raphael was the typical quiet one that was just waiting for a chance to prove himself. Michael and Lucifer? They were Dad's golden boys and never stopped trying to fight for that Number One position.

We all loved our Father too much. Guess that's why He decided to leave. Angels don't have a lot of perspective. Archangels especially. We tend to develop this tunnel vision whenever Dad's around. It's why Michael and Lucifer fought so much and why this stupid idea of "let's-fight-it-out-and-battle-for-keeps" started anyway. I think Dad figured if they had one big fight it would get everything out.

That wasn't good enough for me. Even after Lucifer got locked up in hell, there was still fighting. Michael and Raphael started to fight and that just started the seraphs up and it all blew up after that. Me? I'm not a fighter. Not really. Yeah, angels are warriors. But me? I was Dad's Messenger. I was sent out to fight the good fight every now and then, but mostly I spread the good news and all that jazz.

So when everyone started tearing into each other? I couldn't stand it. I love my family as much as I love my Father. Even if they _are_ a bunch of gloomy freaks.

So I left. Went native, so to speak. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy. First I had to find a vessel. Then I had to find someone who could make me up a vessel that couldn't get tracked down by my brothers. Which, let me tell you, was _not_ an easy feat. Luckily, I have always been a sweet talker and Freyja had a bit of a crush on me. Well, before I took up the mantle of Loki, anyway.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Michael. Lucifer. Apocalypse.

I didn't join up for Team "Let's Kick the Apocalypse in the Ass" right away. I had to think things over first, you know? Had to decide what to do. Decide which team to pick. Hey, don't go and hold it against me that I didn't join up with the Wonder Team right away. I've spent most of my existence hearing about how Michael was going to kick Lucifer's ass and bring Paradise on Earth.

I spent a lot of time hanging out in Venice. That's where my favourite hideout is and I figured that with the Apocalypse officially started, my days were numbered. Might as well enjoy the little things while I could, right? And I might as well be comfortable while I made the decision of what team to back. Because I had a few options and I knew that I would be a welcome help to any team.

My options were as follows:

1. Join Lucifer. Can't say I was thrilled with the idea even if I didn't care for most of you slimy humans. Luci and I may have gotten along back in the day, but I got the feeling that these days he was probably – how do you humans put it? Oh, yeah – _batshit insane. _Hell tended to do that to people.

2. Go back to heaven and join Michael. I have to admit, that this was tempting. I had been away from home for a while. And sure, the pagans were fun and I liked them. But the chance to go back home? To see my family again? Yeah, it was pretty tempting.

3. Wait until it's over. Again, very tempting. It would be easy to just pretend the Apocalypse wasn't happening. Then I wouldn't _have_ to choose. I could just wait. You might not think I would be very good at waiting, but I am. Or, I _can_ be.

4. Find my big brothers' vessels and stop this thing in its tracks. I have to say that I wasn't too keen on this idea. First of all, it would take a hell of a lot of work on my part. Work that would probably be scorned, mocked, and fought at every turn.

Dean is telling me to get on with it and that I already said which team I joined. Well, Dean can stuff it. Yeah, you smart asses already know what I chose. So? Doesn't mean I can't tell you _why_ I made that choice. I saved your sorry asses so you can damn well listen to what I have to say.

I thought it over for a while. And it was a close call, so you humans should be happy. I almost chose not to do anything. Why should I? Why should I fight against Michael and Lucifer for a planet I shouldn't even care about?

You humans are lucky. You really are. Because mostly, my brother's right about you. You're worthless and horrible creatures that would sooner kill each other than try to solve your problems.

But some of you try. You try to be _better._ And that's why Dad is always going to love you best. Because you humans can do something we angels can never hope to be able to do. You can _change._ Angels? It takes _millennia_ for us to change. That's why Dad loves you best. As corny as it sounds, you lot are beautiful _because_ of your flaws. It's something my family has _never _been able to understand.

Well, except for Castiel. But he's always been weird. It doesn't really surprise me that he was the first to really like humans. One specific human, but if I talk too much about that I'm pretty sure Dean will try to kill me on the spot and we can't have that, now can we? Don't want this story to end before it's even started, after all.

The point is that angels don't change easily. It took me hundreds of years to find a way to be more than just a convincing Trickster. By the time I met up with the Winchesters for the first time, I _was_ a Trickster. I had completely cut myself off from heaven and convinced myself I didn't care about life back home anymore.

Then those stupid, blind, and incredibly oblivious Winchesters came along. And they just _had_ to be the kinds of humans I liked. They were exactly what was awesome about humanity. For every couple dozen scumbags I could find and put in their place, there was a human like Sam and Dean Winchester. A human who would live in the moment, but would fight with dying breaths to protect others. To try and do what they thought was _right._

So really, it was all their fault. I would never have thought to try and stop my big brothers if those idiots hadn't come along. They turned me away from the rewarding and oh so much fun unrighteous path. They were the first domino in my "rehabilitation," so to speak. They made me remember what being an angel was like.

I make it sound a lot easier than it was. Actively choosing to fight the good fight, warranted or not, was _not_ an easy decision. I _love_ my brothers. I love them even though they are stupid and childish and constantly vying for Dad's attention. I would have given _anything_ for things to go back to what they were like before the fighting. _Anything._

But by then I had realised I was never going to get that. Michael and Lucifer would never stop fighting. If they had their way, they would take the Winchesters as vessels and kill each other. Helping either one of them or standing back and letting it happen – I would end up losing one of them. If I tried to _stop_ them, they could both live. Even if Lucifer was in hell, he would be _alive._

So that, foolish mortals, is how you got the archangel Gabriel to play for your team.


	2. Two

_**Chapter Two: Even Archangels Can Be Surprised (Or: How the Winchesters Are So Strange That They Can Confuse Even An Archangel)**_

The first step to stopping the Apocalypse was to find the Winchesters. I knew my brothers and knew how they played. Michael would send his goons after Dean and Lucifer would start messing with Sam's head. Neither would tell the humans the full story. Understandably, of course, because if they did my big bros would be shit out of luck. The Winchesters are _stubborn._ Even back before I really _knew_ them, I knew they'd never say yes if they knew everything. But Mike and Luci never played fair. They would play _dirty._

Lucky for the Winchesters, I practically _invented_ playing dirty. No, seriously. It was one of the only things Michael and Lucifer ever picked up from me. Why do you think I chose to disguise myself as a Trickster? It's because I had plenty of practice in pranks because it was the only way to get noticed with Michael and Lucifer arguing all the time.

Unfortunately, finding the Winchesters was not easy. They were completely hidden from my awesome angelic powers, so I knew they must be getting help from one of my siblings. That was good for me – convincing the Winchesters I wasn't just a Trickster and wouldn't try to actually kill them would be hard. I couldn't have imagined that my attempt to stop Sam from going down the path to my brother went over very well. Whoever was helping the Wonder Twins would have a better chance of talking sense into them.

Even being protected, the Winchesters couldn't _really_ hide from angels, much less me. Their dreams were still free game to everyone and anyone with the power. And I had resources that other angels didn't. If I could get at Sam and Dean's dreamscapes, then I could hunt down a couple of the pagans that owed me favours and find them easily.

Finding Dean's dreamscape was tricky. I wasn't sure why, but he seemed to be better protected than Sam. Of course, it could have just been that Sam Winchester was like a beacon for all things paranormal. Everything about the kid screamed, "Look at me!" Honestly, it was one of the reasons I liked him. He was still so _open._ After all the shit he had been put through, he still read like an open book. Of course, that wasn't a good thing now. Lucifer would find him in a heartbeat.

So Sam was my main priority. Michael had the luxury of being able to bide his time – Lucifer would move fast. Invading Sam's dreams was probably the first thing he did after finding a temporary vessel.

And here's something most people don't know about dear, old Luci. He is _preachy._ He likes to get on his soapbox. He's like those cartoon villains that give the five minute long monologues about how awesome they are. Once he got into Sam's head, he would screw with the kid and start trying to play the victim.

Luckily, big bro wasn't hanging around Sam's head when I visited. That was the _last_ thing I needed. A full-on confrontation with my big bro right off the bat? No way. I wasn't sure if I would be able to face Lucifer at all. I may be a Trickster and may have hung out with the pagans, but if push came to shove I knew Lucifer wouldn't have a problem killing me. I wasn't quite sure if I could say the same.

When I wormed my way into Sam's dreamscape, I was surprised. I really shouldn't have been. I spent the better part of a year studying the kid and figuring out what made him tick. I knew he had a guilt complex that was bigger than he was.

I really shouldn't have been surprised to find the kid dreaming that his big brother was beating the crap out of him, but I was.

It showed me what I already should have known – that Sam was blaming himself for the Apocalypse. Really, it wasn't the kid's fault. He had been manipulated from day one. Even so, I half-expected to find him trying to defend his actions.

Sam was obviously punishing himself, though. The construct that looked like his brother wasn't only beating the crap out of him. He was hurling words like "monster" and "freak" at him and blaming him for every bad thing that had ever happened to the brothers.

Well, we couldn't have _that._

I snapped my fingers (what? It's a habit) and the construct vanished. Sam didn't move, though. He stayed on the floor, blinking his way through blood and probably some tears. I leaned against the frame of the stupid decorative archway that motel owners seemed to find so fascinating.

"I see my lesson didn't stick after all."

Sam didn't react how I expected. I expected anger, outrage, violence – instead, he laid on the floor and blinked at me. I raised an eyebrow at him and wondered if the projection of his brother had knocked a few screws loose. That seemed like typical Winchester luck to me. You know, the kind steeped in irony that was really tacky. What's more ironic than being driven crazy by your own mind?

But, as it turned out, Sam _hadn't_ driven himself crazy. "You here to kill me?"

I should have learned my lesson and stopped expecting things from the overgrown human. I should have accepted that he would keep surprising me no matter what. But it just kept happening.

"And why would I want to kill you, kiddo?"

He laughed pathetically. I mean it. It was the most pathetic laugh I had ever heard. He didn't look any better when he sat up. "I set Lucifer free and now he's trying to jump my bones. I doubt that's something you're happy about. World ends, you go with it. Right?"

"I'm tougher than I look," I replied shortly. "It'll take more than an angelic temper tantrum to get rid of me."

The kid was smart. I could tell that he was connecting the dots then. Tricksters weren't _that_ powerful. If the Apocalypse really _did_ happen, the pagans that didn't do the smart thing and run away would get wiped out.

Sam wasn't stupid. A little blind? Of course. It _did_ take him over a hundred Tuesdays to figure out I was the one behind it. But hey, what can you do? He's human.

"Then what are you doing here?"

I shrugged. I hadn't exactly figured out how I was going to talk to the Winchesters yet. I mean, they thought I was a monster. How was I supposed to convince them I wanted to help? They weren't the easiest humans to persuade.

"Maybe I was bored."

Sam stood and _damn_ I had forgotten how tall he was. Seriously, why was it even _necessary_ to be that tall? And yeah, I could start bragging about how tall I am in my true, angelic form. But I had been on Earth for a long time. I might get a complex sticking around him.

"You don't sneak into someone's dreamscape just because you're bored," he argued. "If _you_ were bored, wouldn't you just go after some douchebag?"

"_Please,_ that's work! Why would I want to do work?"

Sam looked down at me and I couldn't stand seeing the kid all bloodied up. That construct of his brother really _had_ done a number on him. I may not have been a Good Samaritan, but how could I be expected to talk to the kid with his face beaten to a pulp? I stepped forward and reached up, pressing my fingers against Sam's cheek.

He jerked backwards. "What the hell - ?" He felt his face with a few fingers, looking surprised when it wasn't painful. Sam looked at me and I knew he was piecing it together. He'd seen that gesture before. He'd probably seen whatever angel was helping the Winchesters do the same thing. He looked down at me and I could see him connecting the dots. The kid was smart; I had to give him that. "What are you?"

I shrugged and sat on one of the crappy motel beds. You would think that Sam could dream up something better. Then again, he _had_ dreamt up his brother to beat the ever-living crap out of him. I would _definitely_ need to help the kid expand his horizons. "Well, I'm more than just a Trickster. But you've already guessed that, haven't you?"

"You _can't _be."

"You know what they say about denial, Sammy."

"But you _killed_ people! You can't be an angel."

I frowned. "Don't tell me you still think angels are fluffy, harp-carrying cherubs. Have you _met_ my brothers yet?"

He blinked and I relished in the fact that he looked completely caught off-guard. Hey, I never said I wasn't amused easily. And surprising the Winchesters? That was the very definition of fun. "Well, yeah, but – "

"Then you should know that we're not the nicest creatures you'll ever meet."

He stared down at me and looked like a confused puppy. "But you're nothing like them."

"Yeah, sorry if that's too much for your human brain to comprehend. And I'll go ahead take that as a compliment, by the way." This was easier than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would take forever to convince the humans I was more than just a Trickster.

"But how are you a Trickster? Isn't that..."

"Against the rules?" Sam nodded and I stood. "Maybe you didn't get the memo, Sasquatch, but Daddy's left the building. And Mike couldn't enforce any rules on me if he tried."

Sam frowned. "But he's an _archangel._ The _first_ archangel."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what? He's the oldest – big deal! Michael has this weakness, you see. He _always_ wants to please Dad. So he won't be doing anything to me unless Dad gives the say-so."

"But Raphael killed Cas. If he could do that, why can't Michael do the same to you?"

"Cas?" Who the hell was _Cas?_ Ah. Looks like I finally had a name for the Winchesters angelic help. "Castiel? He's the one that hid you?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He's on our side. He helped us."

In retrospect, I really _should_ have known that Castiel would be the one to help the Winchesters. Like I said before, Castiel had always been odd. I remembered him from back home, but he had been barely more than a fledgling then.

I left home not long after Dad brought you humans into this world. It took me a while to find a vessel that I could hide away in, but after you humans were created I spent most of my time on Earth. Castiel was one of the youngest angels. He'd always been so damnably curious about _everything. _He had followed me around back then whenever I checked in back home and asked question after question.

Unlike my older brothers, I _liked_ the seraphs and I didn't care for ordering them around. Didn't care for the whole "ordering around" thing in general, to be honest. I was never really a soldier like everyone else. Only when I needed to be.

I shook my head. "Should have known he would join your crazy team," I muttered.

Sam looked at me and I could tell that he figured it out. "Who are you? Which one?"

Call me a coward, but I wasn't anxious to tell my whole story right then. But considering what I was trying to do, I think I could be afforded a little cowardice on revealing my true identity. I _was_ trying to help save the world, after all.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is stopping the Apocalypse, right?"

He blinked and frowned. "You want to help us?"

Honestly. Humans. You had to spell out _everything_ for them. "No, I figured I'd go up against Heaven and Hell _without_ making sure my big brothers' vessels weren't going to say yes."

Sam didn't seem reassured. "How did you know that?"

"It's not a _secret_."

He shook his head and took a step forward. It probably would have been threatening if I wasn't, you know, _me._ "But Cas didn't know."

"I'm significantly more powerful than Castiel, kiddo." I shrugged and walked around. Could Sam's dreamscape be any more boring? "Lucky I'm on your side, huh?"

Sam was quiet. I turned to see that he was looking at me suspiciously. "How do I know you aren't really Lucifer?"

I frowned. "Do I look like Lucifer to you, kid?"

He looked away. "He can make himself look like Jess. I don't know why he'd choose you, but – "

"But you can't be too careful," I finished. "Look, I'm not Lucifer, okay? If I know him, he probably dressed himself up like your girlfriend and tried to worm his way in. Told you some crap about how he'd never lie to you and didn't do anything wrong and was your best friend, right?"

Sam looked up and his lips quirked in an uncomfortable and adorable sort of way. What? An archangel isn't allowed to find something cute? "Something like that."

I nodded and leaned against the wall by the window. "Look, this is me being as straight with you as I can. You won't believe me if I tell you who I am. All you need to know right now is that I'm more powerful than a Trickster and I want to help."

"What makes you think I want your help?"

I frowned. "You _do_ want to stop Lucifer from riding your ass, right? You think you'll be able to do that without some help?" I straightened and looked up at him seriously. "He's not gonna give up on you, Sam. He is going to try and drive you crazy. He is going to make you watch everyone you love burn up, exploit every weakness you have and use it against you, dangle demon after demon in front of you, and is going to do his damnedest to get your brother to say yes too. Sooner or later, there won't be a choice between yes and no anymore."

Maybe I was a bit too hard on the kid. But Lucifer wouldn't play fair and he _would _drive Sam crazy. If I was going to invest my time and energy into stopping the Apocalypse, might as well go the whole nine yards and commit, right? Part of that was making sure Sam knew what was going on and knew what to expect from Lucifer.

"Why are you doing this?" His voice was quiet and he looked like a kicked puppy. It reminded me a little too vividly of how he begged for his brother's life.

I sighed. I was hoping to avoid such soul-searching, mushy moments. "Look, I know you don't have a reason to trust me. I haven't acted like an angel in a long time. But I love my family. Even Lucifer and Michael. I don't want to see them rip each other apart, okay? And I've spent a lot of time down here on Earth. I don't want to see it burn."

I refused to look at Sam. I didn't _do_ caring and sharing. It just wasn't my thing. "What should I call you?"

I frowned and looked up. "What?"

"If you're going to be helping us, I can't exactly go around calling you the Trickster anymore, can I?" Sam grinned slightly and I couldn't help but chuckle. Damn, I was actually going to end up _liking_ the kid, wasn't I?

Call it a moment of weakness or stupidity, but I didn't want to lie to him. I knew he would never believe I was actually the archangel Gabriel. I could have told him any number of names – I had accumulated about a dozen over the years – but I didn't. I said, "Gabriel. They call me Gabriel."

Sam picked up on it immediately. "Gabriel? The...the _archangel?"_

"You don't have to believe me," I replied, "but that's all you're getting for now." He was still looking shell-shocked, but he nodded so I continued. "Now, you trust me enough to tell me where you and your brother are or am I going to have to guess?"

He looked down and blinked. "Dean and I...we're not..."

I frowned. "You aren't with your brother? Why? What happened?" Sam shrugged and avoided my gaze. "Sam. _What happened?"_

"I chose a _demon_ over him, that's what!" He glared at me viciously. "I let _Lucifer_ out of hell! What am I supposed to do? He doesn't trust me anymore. How am I – "

Idiots! Why did humans have to be so stupid? The only chance the Winchesters had was to _stay together._ I had seen first-hand what their stubbornness could accomplish if they were trying to help each other. But they _couldn't function _alone. They just _couldn't._

I stepped forward and looked up at him seriously. Yeah, I know – me? Serious? Well, I could be if I wanted to. On occasion. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. You and your brother _have_ to stay together. You think you have a chance standing up to Lucifer alone? You think Dean can stand up against Michael alone? You two have to be _together_ to stop this."

He blinked and swallowed audibly. "He doesn't want that," he muttered. "I tried calling him. Earlier tonight. He...he said we were better off alone."

"Then your brother's an idiot. You can't fight this alone. You two need to be together if you want to stop the world from burning." I stopped and sighed. "I need you to trust me, Sam. I know I was shitty to you, but you _have_ to trust me."

Sam didn't say anything. He looked like he was thinking something over, so I stepped back and took my place against the wall again. It was a lot to take in, after all. Although, I would be in trouble if after all this he decided not to trust me.

"I'm in a car on the side of the road," he finally said. "Highway 70. Not far from Topeka. I...I was heading to Bobby's."

I grinned. "Then let's go find your brother, kiddo."

I slipped out of Sam's dreamscape and found him almost immediately. Even though he didn't give me an exact location, it wasn't difficult to find him. Even with protection from my little brother, the Winchesters still stood out like sore, supernatural thumbs. It was like they had giant, blinking signs right over their heads.

He was still sleeping when I got there. I don't know how he managed to curl himself into the backseat, but he did. I settled myself into the passenger's seat, snapping my fingers and conjuring up a candy bar. As long as I was with him, I could ward his dreams. Until Lucifer figured out I was helping his vessel, it would be easy to keep him out of Sam's dreams. Lucifer never went into things blindly. He always made sure he knew what he was doing. He wouldn't test the wards I weaved around Sam's dreamscape until he knew who had made them.

Sam didn't sleep for much longer. He was woken up by his cell phone ringing. He woke up abruptly, hitting his head on one of the door handles and swearing. When he looked up and saw me, he froze.

I raised an eyebrow. "You gonna answer that?"

He only blinked. "You're here."

"Were you hoping I was only a figment of your imagination?"

"No, I just thought...I mean - "

I shook my head and picked up the still-ringing cell phone that was sitting next to me in the driver's seat. "You gonna answer this or should I?"

He glared at me and snatched the phone from my hand. When he looked at the screen, however, he frowned and blinked. "It...it's Dean."

I waited for him to answer, but he just stared down at it. Really, you humans can be so cowardly sometimes. Sure, Sam could go after every kind of monster on Earth without blinking an eye, but the moment he had to face his brother? But we didn't have any time for Sam to be nervous about what would happen with his brother. It was time to bite the bullet.

"Just _answer_ the damn thing, Winchester! If he's calling to tell you to go to hell, I'll prank him so much he'll _beg_ to have you back."

He looked up at me suspiciously. "You'd do that?"

"_Hell_ yeah. Dean is what we like to call an easy target. I'd have him begging within a day." Really, all I would have to do would be to cut off his supply of pie and beer. He would crumble faster than a poorly-made soufflé. "Just answer, Sam. He's not going to cut you out forever."

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he opened the phone. "Dean?"

And thank Father for angelic hearing. I _hate_ being left out of the loop. "Uh...hey, Sammy."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, well aside from Zachariah using Jehovah's Witness to do his dirty work...but no, I'm fine. I'm good. I just..." Honestly. Humans. I could practically _see_ the older Winchester running his hand over his face. "I...I was wrong, Sammy."

Sam blinked and I could see that he was trying not to get his hopes up. "What? Dean, are you sure you're okay? You sound – "

"I'll tell you later, just – where are you?"

"I, uh...I'm heading to Bobby's."

"I'll meet you there, okay? Just...be careful, all right?"

Sam looked confused, but I had an idea of what was going on. Zachariah had never _ever_ played fair. He was all about end results and keeping his power. He was the most conniving son of a bitch I knew. There were dozens of things he could have done to Dean.

"'Course, man. I'll be fine. You sure you're – "

"Just shut up and start driving, bitch."

And _damn it_ if you humans don't still find ways to surprise me because Sam's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the insult. "Don't get lost, jerk." He hung up the phone, still grinning widely.

I waited as he clambered out of the back and slid into the driver's seat. "We should be able to get to Bobby's by lunch."

"You know, I could get us there _now._"

Sam frowned. "It's four in the morning. I don't think Bobby will be up for talking right now."

I rolled my eyes. "That's my point, genius. You can get some sleep and then I'll snap us over."

He blinked. "What?"

"Sleep? You know, closing your eyes? Breathing deeply? I know it's not something you do often, but I hear it's good for you."

He was still giving me a rather weird look and I resisted the urge to poke around in his brain. Humans tended to get angry when you started listening to their thoughts. "We need to get moving," he replied, "and I should really drive. Dean and Bobby hate the whole instant transport thing. Even if they aren't the ones getting flown around."

I rolled my eyes and snapped my fingers. Sam blinked from the passenger's seat as I started the car. Honestly. It would figure that the humans I'd be spending the rest of my time with were so stupid. I know not _all_ humans are this dense. You would think that the Winchesters would be a little more open-minded by now.

"What are you doing?"

Sam sounded panicked and I threw him an odd look. "C'mon, Sam, I know you're smarter than that. It doesn't take a genius to figure out I'm driving a damn car."

"No, I mean...you know how to drive?"

I threw him a look before turning back to the road. "It's not like driving is _hard_." I glanced over and he was still staring at me incredulously. "Look, you need sleep. As soon as we meet up with your brother, things are going to get tough fast. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you haven't been getting much sleep."

Sam shifted in his seat. "Lucifer...he, ah...he keeps coming to…to talk_."_

I snorted. "Yeah, he always liked the sound of his own voice." I lifted a hand off the steering wheel and snapped, grabbing a blanket and pillow from one of my hideouts. You humans probably don't realise this, but most of the things I snap into existence I don't actually create. Creating things takes a lot of mojo and sets off a lot of alarms. Bending reality and making illusions? No problem. But actually making something out of nothing? My brothers would have been onto me _way_ too fast. I had hideouts all over filled with just about everything that I could fetch at the snap of a finger.

Sam touched the blanket and pillow suddenly on his lap cautiously. "Why are you doing this?" His voice was quiet.

"What? Helping? Already told you."

I could see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. "No, I mean why are you doing _this?_ You're being..._nice."_

I glared at him sideways. "Hey, I can be nice if I want to."

He chuckled and I scowled. "Yeah, but it doesn't really seem like your style."

I shifted slightly, focusing on the road. Even back then, I didn't drive often. It was fun, but wasn't something I spent my time doing very often. "Well, you need someone to be nice to you after all the shit you've been put through lately," I replied. "I'm the only one around."

I didn't look at Sam. I might not have been sorry about being hard on the kid, but it didn't mean that I had to like what my family had been doing to him. I could still remember meeting Sam when the only thing that weighed on him was his father's death and his strange visions. My family and some demons changed him. They made him darker and less innocent. They tried to _taint_ him.

It stopped here. I didn't know if I would be able to fix what they had done, but I wouldn't let anything else happen to Sam or his brother. They had been through enough, really. If I wanted to stop my brothers from burning the Earth, then I had to stop them from harming the Winchesters.

I glanced over at Sam to see that he was frowning down at the pillow and blanket. "You don't have to do that," he muttered.

"Yeah, I really do," I replied shortly. When I glanced over, Sam was looking at me in confusion. "Look, I did some pretty shitty things to you. I was trying to help, but they were still shitty. You and your brother have had enough crap happen to you without adding what I did to the pile."

Sam was quiet for a moment. "I get what you were trying to do," he said. "Back at the Mystery Spot? I get it now. I – I should have listened."

I shook my head. "It's not your fault, Sam. You've had supernatural beings pulling your strings for your entire life." I glanced at him before focusing on the road again. "Get some sleep. You don't have to worry about Lucifer anytime soon."

Sam, who had actually been settling down and getting comfortable, sat up suddenly. "What? Why?"

I only shrugged. "Not much. I warded your dreams. They won't keep him out forever, but he won't go poking around until he figures out who set them up and it will take him a while to figure out it's me."

He blinked at me before saying quietly, almost in awe, "Thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't rocket science. Not that rocket science is _hard,_ mind you."

"It might have been easy for you, but it...that means a lot. So thank you."

I groaned. "Just go to _sleep_, Winchester. This isn't the time for caring and sharing."

I was surprised when Sam laughed. He shifted, tossing the blanket over his legs and trying to get comfortable. I realised after he shifted for about thirty seconds straight that his legs were too long for the car. I didn't bother snapping my fingers as I bent reality to give him enough room to get comfortable. Thankfully, he didn't reply and a few minutes later he was sleeping.

Now, I'm not going to regale you with _all_ the boring details. You humans get distracted _so_ easily. Be happy that I'm the one writing all this down and not Castiel. He would have written an entire _series_ of novels instead of just one.

But you're stuck with me and I'm going to skip ahead to arriving at Singer's place. Not much happened during the car ride anyway. After Sam woke up, he made me let him drive and caught me up on everything that had happened to him and his brother.

Sam was nervous when we pulled into Bobby Singer's driveway. From what he had told me, I could tell that the man did a lot for the Winchesters. He helped them – made sure they had a safe place to come back to. Best of all, he seemed to tell them when they were being idiotic. I had a feeling I'd like the human.

I followed Sam up to the door and he knocked, shifting his weight nervously. When the door opened, there was Bobby Singer. I remembered him from back in Ohio. Of course, back then he hadn't been in a wheelchair.

When he noticed me, I'm pretty sure he almost had a heart attack. You silly humans. You're all so _fragile._ "What the hell is that _Trickster_ doing here?"

I rolled my eyes. "Not a Trickster, gramps, just disguised as one. And what about you? It's the Apocalypse, you know. Now's not the time to be practicing wheelies." I pushed past Sam to get in the house, but Singer wouldn't budge.

"I ain't letting no Trickster into my house," he growled.

Sam stepped forward. "Bobby, he's not really a Trickster. He's – "

"I don't care _what_ he is. He's not comin' in my house." He glared at me before turning to Sam. "Are you an idjit, boy? Bringin' a _Trickster_ to my house?"

"He wants to help us – "

Bobby glared. "And what's the catch, Sam? You should _know_ better!"

"Are you humans _always_ this dramatic or is it something you hunters monopolise on?" I asked breezily as I leaned against the doorframe.

"I won't be hearin' anythin' from _you," _he growled. "You've done somethin' to Sam's head to get him to trust you and it's ending now, you hear me? You're not gonna hurt that boy, not again."

I sighed. I thought these humans were supposed to hate caring and sharing? Didn't they have some rule against shit like this? "I'm not going to hurt him, Singer."

"What d'you want with him, then?"

I had to resist the urge to shake my head. Humans. So untrustworthy. "Well, I don't want my older brother wearing him like a cheap suit if that's what you mean."

Bobby frowned and turned to look at Sam. "What's he talkin' about, Sam?"

I glanced at Sam. So he hadn't told Singer about being a vessel. Brilliant. "I...I'm Lucifer's vessel, Bobby. He's been coming into my dreams."

He stared at Sam for a moment before glaring. "And you didn't think to call about somethin' like that? Boy, you are gonna be the _death_ of me."

Sam frowned. "Sorry, Bobby. I just..."

He shook his head. "I get it. Idjit." He turned back to look at me suspiciously. "You expect me to believe you're an angel?"

Let me tell you, Bobby Singer? He was _smart_. He wasn't as blind as most humans. Didn't need things spelled out for him. I _liked_ that. "Doesn't matter if you believe it or not. All you have to believe is I'm more powerful than a Trickster and I can help."

"Who says you're more powerful than a Trickster?"

I raised an eyebrow. "How many Tricksters have you heard of that could successfully control a time loop and the whereabouts of a hell-bound soul?" I stood up straight and put a hand on Bobby's shoulder, turning him and the wheelchair out of the way. "So am I allowed in your house now?"

He continued to glare up at me. "It don't change anything. You still killed people."

"Guess that means you want me to take back that little miracle I just worked, huh?" Both of the humans looked at me sharply. I rolled my eyes. "You just gonna sit there and stare? Go on, Singer. Take a walk." I pushed my way past him. I didn't want to stick around for the awkward reactions.

Whatever I expected from Bobby Singer's house, it wasn't what I found. He had a library that rivalled the ones I saw years ago at Alexandria. Yeah, sure the Egyptians had more variety, but Bobby Singer's library? It had everything a hunter could possibly need. Even a passing glance told me that this human had managed to find books and scrolls that even I had lost track of over the years.

Even I could appreciate the amount of knowledge Bobby Singer had tucked away here. It was beautiful. I ran my fingers over the spines of the books. Sweet Father, the knowledge that was tucked away in that little house! I couldn't help but wonder if Singer even realised the treasures he had gathering dust. Sure, they weren't all completely accurate, but it was still amazing – especially for a human in the middle of nowhere.

"You think givin' me my legs back'll get me to trust you?"

I turned to see Sam and Bobby in the doorway. Sam was staring down at Bobby, but the older hunter was trying to glare at me. I shrugged. "I don't care if you trust me or not," I replied shortly. "It'll probably make this whole mess easier, though. Call the healing a gesture of good will if you want."

I turned back to look at the books. I picked up the closest one, finding that it was a book about my family. Not the Bible, but something close to it. I flipped through the pages idly.

"So which one are you then?"

"I'm Gabriel," I replied simply. I didn't expect Singer to believe me anymore than I expected Sam to. I held up the book and turned it to face them. "Not a very good likeness, is it?" It wasn't, either. None of my vessels ever looked so feminine. Not even when they were female vessels.

"You expect me to believe _you're_ an archangel?" He sounded completely incredulous. I didn't blame him. I haven't exactly acted angelic anytime recently.

I turned the book back around and started leafing through it again. "Believe it, don't believe it. That's your choice."

Bobby stepped forward and glared. "If you really are Gabriel, why do you want help? None of the angels wanna help these boys."

I frowned. "Now that's not true. Sam's told me Castiel is helping them."

He shook his head. "Yeah, well Cas is different. He's better'n the rest of you."

"I don't doubt that," I replied. "He always was a bit of an oddball. 'Course, he was only a fledgling back when I knew him, but I can't imagine he's changed that much."

Sam blinked. "Wait, so angels...you actually grow, then? How – "

I rolled my eyes. "Now's not the time for questions on angelic physiology, kiddo. Ask me later." There was a rumbling outside and I recognised it as the Winchesters monster of a car. "You can ask me after we've convinced your brother I'm not trying to pull one over on you."

Sam stiffened next to me at the sound of the car. I glanced up at him. I shouldn't have cared what Sam was feeling. I really shouldn't have cared whether Sam was nervous about seeing his brother again (except that if they didn't make up it would make stopping the Apocalypse that much harder). But seeing him so nervous about seeing Dean again...

Well, the Winchesters had always reminded me of my family. It really shouldn't have surprised me that I was affected by them. There was a reason that they were my brothers' vessels. They were the humans that were most like them.

Unfortunately for Michael and Lucifer, the Winchesters were like my brothers back before everything went to hell in a hand basket. They were better than Michael and Lucifer. They were _human_. They still had a chance to fix things.

I elbowed Sam lightly. "C'mon, Sam-a-lam. You don't have to worry about Dean being mad at you with me here."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Well, go on," I replied before sitting on the couch, continuing to flip through the book all about my family. It was surprisingly accurate for a book made by humans. "Better give your brother some warning before he sees me."

Sam left the room, but Bobby stayed behind. I avoided his gaze, but knew he was staring at me. "Why're you helpin' Sam? What's in it for you?"

I sighed and looked up. "They're just angels to you," I replied. "Soldiers that are making your life difficult by following orders. But that's my family. And they're dying. Most of them are too young to realise they shouldn't be following those orders."

Singer looked at me and I was surprised to find that he wasn't glaring. "You realise that helpin' those boys is a guarantee you'll have to fight other angels?"

I shifted and looked back down at the book in my lap. "Yeah, well, there aren't many angels that would go up against me."

I focused on the book. It was open to a painting of Michael in battle. The humans might not have gotten his vessel right, but they certainly got what he looked like down. The painting made him look almost as mighty and fearsome and righteous as I remember him looking in the First War.

"Those boys are the closest thing I have to family," Singer said seriously, interrupting my thoughts. "You want to help? You're gonna need us to trust you. Only way I'll trust you is if you promise me here an' now you'll keep 'em safe."

I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. Bobby Singer was a good man. He was exactly what my Father had in mind when he made the humans. If more humans were like him...Well, things would be _much_ easier.

I stood and looked up at him. These humans...they were so much _more_. They were better than us – than my family. I met Bobby Singer's eye. "I'll keep them safe," I said softly. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure they aren't harmed."

He stared back at me. For a human, I supposed it was quite a long time to stare at someone. "All righ' then. Gabriel, was it? S'nice to meet you, Gabriel."

I grinned. "And you, Bobby Singer. I have to say, your library is impressive."

Before he could reply, Dean Winchester barrelled into the room. "You," he spat, glaring at me.

"Me!" Sam rushed in behind his brother. Before he could stop Dean, the older Winchester was shoving me against the wall. I let him do it, of course. He couldn't have moved me if I hadn't wanted him to.

That's when I noticed it. Dean wasn't the same as the last time I saw him. The difference in Sam had been obvious – the demons had tried to taint him. But Dean. Dean was _brighter_. And he shouldn't have been. Not after spending time in hell. Then I noticed that it was a familiar brightness. Oh, Father, he was _bound._

"You think you can sneak into my brother's head and tell him lies? Make him think you want to _help_ us? You bastard. I don't know how, but I'm going to find a way to kill you."

I raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm lying, then?"

"_Oh_ yeah. There's no way in hell you're an angel."

I rolled my eyes and pushed Dean backwards hard enough that he stumbled. "You've seen my family, Deano," I replied. I turned and sat back on the couch again. "You really think I'm much different from the others?"

He glared down at me. "And you expect me to believe you suddenly want to help us?"

I shrugged. "Sammy believes me. Singer believes me. I can convince my little bro once he turns up."

Dean turned to look first at his brother then at Bobby. He blinked when he saw that Bobby was standing. "Bobby? You _trust_ him?"

He glanced at me and nodded. "I trust that he'll help us." Dean tried to protest, but Singer stepped forward. "Boy, we need all the help we can get. You really think we can stop the devil on our own? We need 'im." He shrugged. "And he _did_ gimme my legs back."

Dean shook his head and turned to glare at me. "I'm callin' Cas," he growled.

I shrugged. "Go ahead," I replied. "Been a while since I've seen Castiel."

He scowled and turned to leave the room. Sam sat down at the desk and was frowning at me. "You really shouldn't provoke him," he said, but I could tell he was trying to hide his amusement. "If you provoke him, he's never going to trust you."

I shrugged. "Like I said, I don't need him to trust me. You and Singer and my little bro will be enough."

"I don't know why we trust you," he replied, frowning. "We don't have much reason to."

I grinned. "Well, I guess I'm lucky you do things without thinking, then, aren't I?" Sam grinned, but Dean stomped back into the room and smothered it. Shame, really. When he wasn't being a stick in the mud, Sam was kind of fun.

"I called him," Dean huffed. "But it could be weeks before he comes. He can barely work the damn thing. Who knows if he even knows what voicemail _is._"

"You gave an _angel_ a _cell phone?" _I asked incredulously.

Sam frowned. "Why not? We had to contact him somehow."

I rolled my eyes. "Humans. Can't see the most obvious solution there is," I muttered. "Castiel is an _angel._ Any prayer invoked with his name goes directly to him."

Dean rolled his eyes and sat on the other side of the desk stiffly. Sam frowned and looked upset, though. "Really? All the prayers that include an angel's name go to that angel?"

"'Fraid so, bucko," I replied. I knew why Sam was upset.

After skipping out on Heaven, I had to block myself off to human prayers. If my brothers paid attention, they would have been able to follow me that way. But some still managed to slip through. Some always managed to slip through. I had to admit – it was all kinds of shaming to find out that the vessel of the devil had so much faith.

"Hate to say it, though, but most don't listen. Most of my brothers don't care about you humans either way."

"And what about you?" Dean asked roughly. "You eavesdrop on people?"

"Eavesdrop? I don't _eavesdrop_ on human prayers," I hissed. "Prayers are _sacred_, no matter what my family might think. They shouldn't be used. Not by _anyone_." I stood and glared down at the older Winchester. I knew that I was getting out of control, that my control was slipping the angrier I got, but I couldn't stop myself. "No matter what I've done or what I became after I left home, I would _never_ treat a prayer cruelly_. _To know that my family isn't listening anymore? You have no idea what that's like."

I can honestly say I have no idea how Dean Winchester had survived as long as he had. He obviously has no self-preservation or he would have shut up at that point. But Dean Winchester was stupid. No really, he was. Still is, if I'm being honest.

"You still haven't answered," he returned, standing up. "You listening in on people praying while you kill people for fun?"

I lost control. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Dean and I are a bit too similar, you see. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing we went at it early on. Got it all out of the way in one go. At the time, I was just angry. More angry than I've been in centuries, really.

I ended up throwing him across the room before holding him up against the wall. "Don't forget, Winchester, I'm an _archangel_," I growled lowly. "I was the archangel of _justice._ You should watch what you say." I took a step backwards, letting him back onto the ground. "I left Heaven a long time ago," I said bitterly. "I haven't been home since the dawn of creation." I turned and folded my arms, staring out the window. "When I left home, I had to cut myself off. From everything. Everything I knew, everything I loved - you can't begin to imagine what my life has been like."

Dean didn't say anything. Maybe he was learning. Once I calmed down enough to notice, I could sense my little brother's presence. I wondered vaguely how long he had been there. I was hoping not to show all my cards right off the bat. It had been a long time since I had seen Castiel – I had no idea what he would be like now. I sighed and turned.

The first thing I noticed was that his vessel suited him. Even the rumpled suit and trench coat was just so much like the Castiel I remembered. The second thing I noticed was that he was smaller than he should have been.

You see, archangels are different from other angels. Our senses are sharper. We can know an angel when we see one because we can sense their grace. What was different about Castiel was so wrongthat it took me a few moments to figure out what was different. When I did, I was _furious._

His grace was diminished. He was _Falling_. Which shouldn't have been possible. The only way an angel should be cut off from heaven was if they chose it or if Father ordered it be done. Castiel shouldn't be Falling. Dad wasn't giving orders anymore and Castiel clearly wasn't choosing this. Falling from grace doesn't _happen_ this way. It's quick. Painful, but quick. Not…_this._ Slow. Drawn-out. Almost imperceptible.

"What's happened to you?" I growled, walking over to him and pulling his face down so I could look past his vessel's eyes and see _him._ You know that saying about eyes being the window to your soul? It's truer than you would think.

He looked at me like he was confused before looking away, pulling his face out of my grip. "My powers are failing me," he replied. And _boy_ that voice was familiar. Even back home, Castiel had a low voice. Even as a fledgling. His vessel really was perfect for him.

I shook my head. "But _why?_ That shouldn't be possible. You're _Falling,_ Castiel. You shouldn't be Falling." He was still avoiding my gaze. Worse than that, he was keeping a _very_ tight hold on his Grace.

Another fun fact about angels: we communicate through our Grace more than anything. Back before the First War, we wouldn't need to speak. Not even when we were in vessels. I suppose Michael would have put a clamp on that, though. Communicating that way was intimate. It bared every secret, every thought, every feeling – it probably won't make sense to you humans, but it was what I missed most from heaven. Castiel probably couldn't even remember how to communicate that way while in a vessel.

"How bad is it, Castiel?" My voice was quiet. I wasn't sure the humans in the room would be able to hear what I said.

He met my gaze and let me say this: I was proud of my little brother. The Winchesters were right – he was better than all of us. He was brave. That was a rare trait amongst the angels. We followed orders. We were never _brave._ But Castiel was. "I am cut off from heaven," he replied. "Have you heard of our Father, Gabriel?"

I shrugged. "Sorry, bro. I haven't heard anything from Dad."

I was surprised when he didn't back down. I expected him to be upset by the news. I was Dad's Messenger, after all. Even then. Even now. If anyone knew where he was, it would have been me. But Castiel didn't react how I expected. He only said, "I believe He brought me back."

I frowned. "'Brought you back?' Wait – Raphael _actually_ killed you? Not just pulled you back, he _actually_ killed you?"

"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly. "Though I was pulled back to Heaven as well. Raphael is watching over a Prophet. I was attempting to stop Lucifer's rising."

"Have Michael and Raphael lost their _minds?_ Killing seraphs and cutting them off from heaven? Oh yeah, that's a _great_ idea! When I get my hands on them..."

I wasn't kidding, either. I fully intended to show Michael and Raphael _just_ how angry I could be. Michael might have been older than me, but that wouldn't stop me from tossing him around. He was _completely_ off the rails. Trying to follow-up on the whole Apocalypse plan was one thing, but this? Killing seraphs and then cutting them off when he didn't do the job properly?

I was going to make the rest of their lives absolutely miserable_._

"Cas," Dean interrupted, "you tellin' me he's really an _archangel?"_

_Cas._ Honestly. Humans. Have to give nicknames to _everything._ What was wrong with Castiel's name? His name was awesome. Yeah, some of our family members could use nicknames. Uriel could've done with a nickname. And Zachariah. It might've lightened him up a bit. Castiel's name was great, though. But it didn't bother Castiel. In fact, he seemed happy with the nickname.

"Yes, Dean. This is Gabriel." He turned to me with a frown. "We believed you dead, Gabriel. What happened?"

I shrugged. "Went local, 'lil bro. Left home." He only met my gaze evenly and I could just _tell_ that he didn't get it. Honestly. Little brothers. "I hung out with the pagans. Made a name for myself."

Castiel frowned. "You disguised yourself as a pagan god?" I shrugged in reply. I knew it wasn't something that would make me popular with my family. Castiel didn't mention it being forbidden, though, which surprised me. I kind of expected him to start spouting off Dad's rules. But he didn't. "You are going to help us stop Lucifer?"

I sighed. "If I have to," I replied. "But it's not enough to just stop Lucifer. We stop him, Michael will just try to claim the Earth as his own. We need to stop _both_ of them."

Dean stepped forward. "And how do we do that? It's bad enough we have to find a way to stop the devil, but now we have to stop Michael too?"

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," I replied. "I know some people that might help out."

"By 'some people,'" Sam said, standing from the chair, "you mean pagan gods, don't you?"

I smirked and shrugged. Best not to reveal all my cards straight away, right? I highly doubt they would be happy about who I was going to be asking for help. "You'll see, kiddo. I'll be back soon." I turned to my brother. "We need to talk, bro. Follow me." I took off, flying to the edge of Bobby Singer's yard. A moment later, Castiel appeared.

He looked nervous and I didn't like that. What had it been like while I was gone? What had Michael and Raphael done? "You were the one that pulled him out of hell, weren't you?"

Castiel met my gaze and I could tell that he knew what I was hinting at. "It was…difficult. He was not easily moved."

I shook my head, taking a step towards him. "Do you know what you've done, Castiel? You've _bound_ yourself to him. Your grace is tied to that suicidal human."

"It was a mistake," he replied. "I…lost control."

Those damn Winchesters. What was it about them? Why did they have to be so damn interesting? If they were _normal_ human beings, this wouldn't have happened. But _no._ They had to be _different._

"Well, it makes things easier, at least," I replied as I stepped forward and grabbed Castiel's hands. He immediately stiffened and tried to back away. I let him go and he looked down at me with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?"

I folded my arms across my chest. "I just want to help, little brother. They have no right to cut you off from Heaven. You shouldn't be falling."

He blinked. "You can change that? How?"

"Have a little faith! Come on!" When he didn't budge, I rolled my eyes. "Archangels work a little differently than other angels. Since you started a binding ritual, I can recharge your batteries."

His eyes widened. "No, Gabriel. _No."_

I frowned. What was _wrong_ with all of these people? Self-sacrificing idiots, the lot of them. "Don't be an idiot, Castiel."

When I reached for him again, he stepped backwards. "I said no."

"_Why?_ Castiel, you _need_ this – "

Before I could finish, he stepped forward and glared down at me. "We did not ask for your help," he said lowly. "It does not matter if I should or should not be falling. I am. You cannot change that." He took a step back and paused. "I will not let you harm Dean and if you try to restore my grace, you will be left at a disadvantage. You are our best chance at stopping Lucifer and Michael."

I couldn't help it. I started laughing. I knew that it was probably unnerving Castiel – it didn't look like he had gained a sense of humour in my absence. But _really._ Of _all_ the habits he had to pick up from humans.

When I stopped laughing, I saw that Castiel was frowning and looking away. I took a step towards him, but he moved out of the way again. "I'm not going to get _'left at a disadvantage,'_" I said in disbelief. "I told you – archangels don't work like the rest of you do. We _can't_ fall. Not really. Look at Lucifer – he's still got all of his powers and _no one _has fallen as far as him. And it's not going to hurt Dean. He's not even going to notice."

Castiel studied me and I could tell that I was winning him over. It was good to know I was still persuasive. "Are you sure?"

I held out a hand. "I would do it even if I wasn't, little brother."

He blinked. "Why?"

"You might not remember your days as a fledgling, but I do," I replied with a shrug.

Castiel blinked again and looked down at my hand. After a long moment, he put his in mine. I grinned and grabbed his other hand. Getting him back to angelic status was easy. Normally, it wouldn't be possible. Every angel's grace is different. An angel just can't give another angel their grace. Our grace is similar to a human soul in a lot of ways. It's what we are. What we're _made_ of. You can't fix a human's soul by shoving a piece of someone else's soul into it. The same holds true for an angel's grace.

But Castiel had bound himself to Dean. A part of his grace was lodged inside of Dean Winchester. I could use Dean as a channel, of sorts. I could thread parts of my grace through Dean and into Castiel. Dean would act as a filter. Because of the binding ritual, any grace that went through him the right way would change. It wouldn't be _exactly_ like Castiel's, but it would be close. _Very_ close. The only difference was that it would be more…_Dean_.

Of course, the binding ritual wouldn't keep _every_ angel out. If Dean said yes, the half-assed binding wouldn't be able to stop Michael. The only way _that_ could happen would be if the binding was completed. Even then it would be a long-shot.

When I started filtering my grace through Dean and back to Castiel, I felt my brother shudder. Not just physically. I felt his _grace_ shudder. I really couldn't help myself. It had been so long since I really _felt_ one of my brothers. I wrapped my grace around Castiel's through our vessels and let go of his hands so I could wrap my arms around him. He was taller than me, but his head ended up on my shoulder anyway.

I knew that I was giving too much away. I wasn't holding anything back. Castiel's grace was still guarded, but mine gave everything. In those moments, Castiel knew me. He knew every little thing about me. It should have scared me. It should have bothered me.

But all I could feel was the happiness that I was finally home_._ Even if I never got back to heaven and never saw any of my other brothers again, Castiel was _here._ And he was letting me hold him. Letting me wrap myself around him. Letting me be close to him.

It wasn't long before he was himself again. The only problem was, well…I didn't want to let go. I just wanted to stay wrapped around my little brother. I just wanted that one reminder that not _everything_ had been horrible back home. I pulled myself away from Dean, but I couldn't pull away from Castiel.

"Brother," Castiel murmured, his arms tightening around me.

And then everything was rushing in. Castiel was opening up, letting me know him. It was _so much._ It only made me admire my little brother more. He was braver than I ever was. He really _was _better than the rest of us. Every single one of us. Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, me – we were all shamed by this tiny little seraph. This one tiny angel had more faith than we had _ever_ had.

Then I was seeing that Castiel didn't forget my time in Heaven. I saw how after I left, Castiel didn't understand what happened. He thought I was just hiding and spent days searching for me. I saw how Michael eventually pulled him aside and told him that I was dead.

I wrapped myself around him even more tightly. I didn't apologise very often. I wasn't even sure _how_ to apologise most of the time. So I just wrapped myself around him even more. I brushed my grace against his, letting him know that I would be a better brother now. That I wouldn't leave him again.

I had to force myself to let him go. When he straightened and we had both withdrawn our grace, he smiled. "Thank you," he whispered.

I chuckled, trying to compose myself. "Not a problem, bro," I replied as lightly as I could.

"I will stay with the Winchesters while you speak with your pagan contacts," he replied. He must have figured out what I was going to do when we had been wrapped up together. "They need protection."

I nodded. "Watch Sam, will you? Lucifer's been poking around in his head. I put up some wards, but our big brother might find a way around them."

Castiel nodded and there was a knowing glint in his eye. I didn't like it. "They will be safe with me," he promised.

"Be back soon, little brother. Have the humans start calling up their hunter friends. We're going to need all the help we can get."

A moment later Castiel vanished and headed back to Singer's house. I took a deep breath before flying away. I had a lot of people to talk to and none of them were going to be easy to convince.


	3. Three

_**Chapter Three: Gabriel Uses His Awesome Connections and Incredible Powers of Persuasion to Find New Recruits to Help Stop the Impending Apocalypse**_

There's something you should know about me. I wasn't just disguised as a Trickster while I was away from home. I was also disguised as Loki.

Yep, that's right. The Norse god? Me. And let me tell you, worming my way into _that _club had not been easy. It would have been damn near impossible if I hadn't spent so much time on Earth even before leaving home. I got lucky.

Which was good, really. There were a few beings I knew that I could convince to help me. Some even knew I was more than just a Trickster or Loki. They would be the ones I went to first, but I had to move fast. As soon as I started going to see all the big name powers, word would start to spread and it would only be a matter of time until it got back to one of my brothers.

I decided to go to the Tricksters first. There wouldn't be as many eyes on them and I wouldn't have to move quite as quickly. They would also be more difficult to persuade. Tricksters tended to keep to themselves. We didn't cross paths often and when we did, things usually ended badly. I wasn't even going to try and talk to Eris or Iktomi. Last time I saw Eris, we nearly levelled a town in the argument that followed. And Iktomi and I had never seen eye to eye. Sure, the humans loved him and thought he was great, but they didn't really _know_ him. He might have been kinder to humans than some other Tricksters, but he wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. He was ruthless, really.

I went to Coyote first. He was one of the first Tricksters I met and the one I got along with best. He was the oldest of the Tricksters and generally considered the wisest of the bunch. If a Trickster ran into Coyote, they tended to be on their best behaviour. If I could convince Coyote to help us, the rest of the Tricksters would follow easily.

The only problem was that Tricksters are a distrustful bunch. They don't trust _anyone._ They're worse than humans. Making alliances just wasn't a thing Tricksters did. It went against every bone in their body.

And that's exactly what I was trying to do.

I found Coyote in Arizona. He tended to prefer heat and sand, so you could usually find him in the south. He didn't look like I remembered. Of course, that wasn't unusual. Tricksters usually change bodies like humans change clothes. Over the years, that had gotten me quite a bit of attention that I had to put down. Sure, my vessel wasn't like any of my brothers', but it was still a vessel. I could change what it looked like for a time, but not long. Even then, it was still just an illusion.

Coyote looked like a Native American. Appropriate, considering that's where his stories originated from. He was taller than I was, but I knew he wouldn't come anywhere close to being as tall as the Winchesters. His hair was greying and he looked every bit the wise old man that the Tricksters respected.

"Hello, Loki," he greeted as soon as I appeared next to him.

I nodded and joined him. He was standing on a ridge, a town down the hill. I knew he was planning lessons for the humans below, but I didn't have time to be polite. "Coyote," I greeted in return. "I need your help."

He turned towards me and the corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. "Oh?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know I'm more than just a Trickster. You've known for a while now."

"I have," he replied evenly. "Are you going to tell me who you really are?"

Damn, why did asking for help have to be so hard? "I'm an angel," I replied grudgingly. "Gabriel."

Coyote barely reacted. He raised an eyebrow, but only said, "Then you're here about the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse."

_Damn it._ That was exactly what I _didn't_ want to hear. I expected to hear it from the pagans, but Coyote? This was going to be harder than I thought. "It isn't that simple," I said, turning towards him again. "You don't know my brother, Coyote. He won't leave you alone. He doesn't care about this world. It's just a stepping stone. He'll kill anyone who gets in his way. He'll destroy you if you don't join him and if you do he'll leave you to rot as soon as he's found a way back home."

He looked down at me, but his face was a mask. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. After a few moments of studying me, however, he smiled. "I have never seen you so passionate about something, my friend," he replied. "What help do you need?"

I blinked, but grinned after a moment. "Thank you, Coyote," I murmured. "I've already found my brothers' vessels. What we need now is to get Lucifer off of Earth. I might have a way, but it's going to take a lot of firepower. We're going to need all the help we can get for it to work."

Coyote nodded. "Whatever you need of me, friend. I will do what I can to help."

"Thank you," I said again. "I have to go. There won't be much time for me to move."

"Be swift, then, Gabriel. I will spread the word to our fellow Tricksters. Go see your pagan family. I will gather as many allies as I can."

I grasped Coyote's forearm and he returned the gesture. "Thank you, Coyote. Watch for me."

He nodded. "Go, my friend."

I was thankful to Coyote. He would have better luck with the Tricksters than I would. I would have been able to manage, but Coyote's help was more than welcome. Most of the Norse gods weren't pleased with me. It was my own fault, really. When I left home, I didn't care about anything. I didn't care what they thought of me. I did whatever I wanted and just _didn't care._

That wasn't going to help me now. Not many of them would even stop to hear what I had to say. I did still have a few strings I could pull, though. I didn't piss _everyone_ off. Not completely, anyway. In fact, there were a few that I actually trusted.

There were few beings that I owed more to than Sigyn. The myths weren't exactly true, but they got some things right. I got myself in a spot of trouble and Sigyn helped me when no one else would. She bought me enough time to escape. By pagan rites, she had been my wife at one time. But things were more complicated than that because Sigyn was one of the few that actually knew who I was.

Sigyn was different from the other pagans. She was honourable. Sigyn was a black sheep amongst pagans, but despite this she was still revered among them. You humans didn't get much right in concerns to Sigyn. You forgot about her because she wasn't involved in bloodshed. She never made a name for herself amongst the humans even though she loved you.

And she did. She was one of the few pagans that _really loved_ humans.

She knew from the start that I was more than just a Trickster or a pagan. Sigyn was smart. _Very_ smart. She was gifted. She saw things that others didn't.

I found Sigyn in Iceland. She had always liked the cold best. She was just outside of Vik, a town on the southern coast, and was standing on the edge of a cliff. She looked just as I remembered. Long blonde hair and bright eyes. It had been a long time since I'd seen her.

"Sigyn," I said softly. I stepped next to her and the back of my hand brushed against hers lightly.

She slipped her hand into mine. "It's been quite a while, Loki." She turned her head and smiled. "You've been busy since last we met."

I grinned. "Aw, have you been keeping tabs on me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, darling," she replied with a smile. "There is great talk about and you have been at the heart of it." She reached forward and put her hand on my shoulder before kissing my cheek lightly. "It is good to see you, Wind Walker."

I shook my head at the old nickname. Back when I was first making a name for myself amongst the pagans, I didn't bother holding myself back much. There is nothing in the world that is faster than me when I fly. I was my Father's messenger, after all.

"I need help, Sigyn. There are bad things happening."

Her smile faded and she frowned. "What is it? What is happening?"

"I'm an angel," I replied, "and my family's brought the fight down here to Earth."

She blinked and her eyes widened. I could tell she knew what I was getting at. "Lucifer," she replied. "The one that was cast down. He is walking the Earth."

I nodded. "He has to be stopped, Sigyn. He's going to burn everything. I need help."

"I don't know, Loki," she murmured, "I will not be able to do much." She turned away from me to look out over the sea again. "You know I am not a warrior."

"Please," I replied caustically. "We have more warriors than we can manage. We need more than people to fight."

She turned and studied my face. "'We?' So you are no longer alone?"

I frowned and looked away. "Not anymore, no," I replied reluctantly.

"Good," she said with a smile. "I did not like the thought of you being alone for so long." She grinned and poked my side lightly. "You sulk if you stay on your own for too long."

I huffed out a sigh and folded my arms. "You know, if I wanted this abuse I would just stay with the Winchesters."

"The Winchesters?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," I replied. "I've met up with one of my brothers and a couple of humans. And if I wanted to be mocked, I would have stayed with them."

Sigyn smirked. "If you wanted to be pampered, you should not have come to me. You know I will not cater to your whims."

I nodded and paused. "I'll protect you, Sigyn," I told her seriously. "I won't let my brother do anything to you. I just…I want it to stop. I don't want them to fight anymore. Please."

She sighed, but nodded. "Very well," she replied. "I promised to protect you in the past. I will vow to help you now." She smiled and said, "After all, how else will I meet these humans that mock you so?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you're going to get along with them great."

"Who else will you ask for help?"

"Svaðilfari, Fenrir, Hel maybe, and Kali if I can convince her," I replied.

Sigyn nodded. "I wish you luck with Kali, but Hel will not come to your aide. She has refused to leave her realm for many years now." She paused. "Be safe, Loki."

"What's the fun in that?" She narrowed her eyes and I rolled my eyes. "If I'm not back in four days, find the Winchesters and tell them I sent you."

Now I won't bore with the details of my meetings with Svaðilfari or Fenrir. Things didn't go so well with either of them. Svaðilfari refused to help. He said what would happen would happen and he would not get involved either way. Well, I say he _said_ but that isn't really true. He is a horse, after all. But it's what he _meant._ Things with Fenrir went better – I convinced him to help, but it took a long time. Too long. By the time I made it to Kali, I knew that rumours were already flying.

I thought that Kali was going to be the most difficult person I would have to talk to. She was the most proud and liked humans the least and, truth be told, she wasn't very happy with me. In fact, I would rather have gone back to the Winchesters and answered their thousands of questions rather than go meet Kali again. But Kali might be able to help us.

Surprisingly enough, I found Kali in America. Fortunately for me, I found that she was already trying to get the biggest names in the pagan world together. She wanted to go up against my brother and wasn't going to take no for an answer.

It was stupidly easy to get her help, even with our history.

When I found her, she was just with Baldur. I had decided to confront her _after_ her meeting. Baldur and I didn't get along very well. Like I said, your human myths aren't accurate, but it got some things right. Baldur and I had never gotten along at all.

So I stayed hidden until Baldur left. The last thing I needed was to get into an argument with Baldur while I was working with such a limited amount of time. He would make things impossible. He really was a horrible person to have to deal with.

Once Baldur left, I revealed myself. "Well, someone's been busy. But Baldur? _Really?"_

Kali turned and I had really forgotten _just_ how withering of a glare she could throw. Kali wasn't a woman you messed with. She would flay you alive without a second thought. "Loki," she said lowly, "what do you want?"

I leaned against the wall and folded my arms. "Not much, really," I replied. "Just thought you should know that if you try to go up against Lucifer with _Baldur_ you're going to end up very, very dead."

Her eyes narrowed and let me tell you, _that_ was a feat. I didn't think her glare could have gotten any more vicious. "This is not his world. It's _ours."_

"Doesn't matter," I replied. "He's stronger than you, Kali. He'll rip through all of you like tissue paper. He doesn't care what you think. He's having a temper tantrum and you aren't going to be able to stop him."

She raised an eyebrow. "And you know this how? Who's to say that I can't stop him? I am the _Destroyer. _He will _burn._ I will not let those _angels_ take this planet."

I have to admit I didn't like the idea of Lucifer and Kali going up against each other. Lucifer would rip through Kali. But if Lucifer didn't have his true vessel, she would be able to hurt him. I didn't want either of them hurt. Lucifer was my brother and while I was here on Earth, the pagans became part of my family too. I may have hated them at times and we may have been at each other's throats most of the time, but they were still family. I didn't want to watch them fight my brother.

"Stand with me, Loki," she said. "You can help us take back the planet. Help us destroy this 'devil.'"

I shook my head. "Sorry, Kali. No can do."

She frowned. "You cannot _hide_ from this, Loki. If we do not stop him, the world will burn."

"I never said I wouldn't try to stop him," I replied. I pushed away from the wall and looked at her seriously. "But I'm not gonna try to kill him, Kali."

"Why?"

I smiled tightly. "Because he's my brother."

Kali froze. "You expect me to believe that you are one of _them?_ _You,_ Loki? Don't make me laugh."

I shrugged and pulled out my blade. "Have you seen an angel before, Kali? We're not exactly what you'd imagine."

"That is an angel's blade," she murmured. She looked up from the blade and glared before raising her hand. Fire engulfed it, but I didn't move. Kali couldn't kill me. Fire might hurt, but it couldn't really cause any damage.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, Kali? You're gonna try to kill me?"

"This world isn't yours. What claim do you have to it?"

Kali had always thought highly of herself. She never liked when something she thought was _hers_ was taken away from her. "_This world _doesn't belong to either of us," I replied. "It belongs to the humans."

She scoffed. "Those _insects?_ They are only mud beneath our feet."

I shook my head. "They're _better_ than us, Kali. Better than all of us." I turned away, running my hands over the variety of candles and other knick-knacks she had set up here. "It doesn't matter. We want the same thing, really. I want to stop my brothers from toasting the Earth. You want to stop them too. We can help each other."

"I have no interest in _helping_ you, Loki. Not if you are cavorting about with _humans."_

I sighed and turned back to face her. "Kali, please," I said softly. "I know my family. If you try to go up against them, they will _kill_ you. You don't stand a chance against Lucifer. I know my brother, Kali. You wouldn't be able to kill me even if you tried your hardest. You'll barely even _scratch_ Lucifer."

Kali studied me with a frown. After a moment, she stepped forward and looked up at me. "And you believe you can stop Lucifer? You believe you can stop him without killing him?"

I met her gaze. "Yes, I do. Coyote is helping me. Sigyn and Fenrir are helping me. One of my brothers is helping me. We can do this, Kali. I'm not going to let my family take this world."

She blinked up at me. "Fine," she finally said. "I will help you. No one has been willing to fight anyway. They are all _so sure_ that nothing will happen. They are fools."

"Yep, they are," I replied. "And thank you, Kali."

She glared. "I don't need your thanks. Tell me this, at least: which one are you?"

I grinned. "Me? No one important, really."

"_Loki,"_ she hissed, "if I am going to join you and a bunch of _humans_, then you will tell me your true name."

"I'm Gabriel," I said with a smirk before flying off. I could just imagine the look on Kali's face. I flew back to Bobby Singer's place. Even though I had moved faster than I thought, it had still been about two days since I left the humans with my brother.

I landed down in the junkyard. As fun as it would be to pop in and scare the Winchesters, I knew they wouldn't take to it kindly. And it had been a long two days. I didn't feel like getting into it with Dean quite yet.

As soon as I landed, however, Castiel appeared next to me. "Hello, brother," he murmured. His greeting was accompanied by a brush of his grace.

I grinned and huffed slightly before returning the gesture. "Careful, bro," I said lightly. "I might get used to this."

The tendril of grace pulled away. "If it bothers you – "

I rolled my eyes. "I was _joking_, Castiel. Relax a little." He frowned, so I moved on. I would get him to relax eventually. "How have the humans been coping?" I had an idea of what had been going on. If I knew Dean Winchester, he would be doing his best to convince his brother that I was trying to trick him.

"Dean does not trust you," Castiel replied. "But Sam has been arguing in your defence. Bobby has been reaching out to other hunters to ask for their assistance." He shifted slightly and I could tell that he was uncomfortable. "They questioned me as to how you plan to defeat Michael and Lucifer."

I had to say that I was surprised that Sam argued on my behalf. I would have thought that he would let Dean rant and rave since they just got back together again. Once again, I was surprised by Sam Winchester.

Might as well be honest, right? Sam _still_ surprises me. But don't tell him that. He'd use it against me and that's the _last_ thing I need. And Dean would try to mock me and I would have to get my revenge and then Sam would make me sleep on the couch. What? It's the principle of the thing.

Back to the story, though.

"Did you have any success with your friends?"

I snorted. "I wouldn't exactly call them _friends."_

Castiel raised an eyebrow. "You're lying, Gabriel," he said seriously. "You care for the pagans."

"So what if I do?"

He turned to me and smiled slightly. It wasn't much of a smile, but it was the closest that Castiel probably ever got to. "You don't need to act ashamed of them, brother. I have no room for judgment."

I glanced at him. "Just you and me now, huh?"

Castiel nodded. "Yes. Just 'you and me.' And our friends."

I laughed. "Well, if that doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster, I don't know what does." I clapped a hand to his shoulder before heading towards the house. "C'mon, bro. Let's go tell the humans the plan."

He frowned. "And what _is_ the plan?"

I grinned and spun around, walking backwards. "Not quite sure yet, little bro. I'll let you know when I've got it all figured out."


	4. Four

_**Chapter Four: For People Who Have A Rule Against Chick-Flick Moments, They Sure Seem To Happen More Frequently Than You Would Think**_

I didn't expect to find the humans _sleeping._ Sure, time didn't really mean much to me. I mean, I _had_ spent the past two days flying all over the world and trying to convince gods and goddesses to help fight against my family.

Still, I didn't realise just how late it was until I got inside. Sam was sprawled on the couch, legs thrown over the arm and his gigantic frame cramped onto the tiny surface. Dean was tossing and turning on the floor with a thin blanket thrown over his legs. I rolled my eyes. Honestly. Did they have to do _everything_ the hard way?

I snapped my fingers and morphed the room around them. It wasn't easy to create an extra room without screwing up Singer's house. I created a little pocket dimension so that the house was slightly bigger on the inside. I made the room as small as the Winchesters would be able to manage while still fitting two beds in it that were big enough to hold the ridiculously tall humans.

When I was done, there was an extra room and the Winchesters were in actual beds for once, not those crappy monstrosities that motels try to pass off as mattresses. I turned to find Castiel behind me. "Dean won't be pleased," he said softly.

I shrugged. "Dean can live with it. Those idiots don't know the meaning of getting a good night's sleep. They need to be on their A-game, Castiel." I sat down on the vacated couch, kicking my feet up onto the coffee table. "Besides, I don't think Sammy would have been pleased if I tried to sit on him."

Castiel looked at me seriously and I waited for him to stop thinking and talk. He got this _look_ on his face whenever he was thinking about something he thought was serious. It was best just to wait it out and let him think before he said anything.

"I don't understand you."

Well, that was unexpected. "Well, I _am_ a complex guy," I replied lightly.

He shook his head. "No, I do not understand why you acted so cruelly to the Winchesters before and why you are being so kind to them now."

I sat up straight. "First off, I wasn't being _cruel,_ Castiel. I was trying to help them. Yeah, yeah – I know. I was stupid about it, but I was trying to help them. I was trying to stop all of _this._ I was trying to stop them from going down this road."

Castiel didn't blink as he looked down at me. "That's the only reason?"

I met his gaze and _damn_ I really hated how observant he was. Was this how it was always going to be from now on? Because if so, that was going to be _really_ fucking annoying. Oh, suck it up. Yeah, I cursed. Don't give this story to your kids if you think it's so bad.

"I _may_ have been…jealous," I said grudgingly, leaning back against the couch. Castiel and I may have learned a lot about each other two days ago, but there was no way we could have caught _everything._ Yeah, we knew each other better than anyone else in those few moments, but now that we were separate again? Well, we were still mysteries to each other.

Interacting with grace was like a puzzle. Each new interaction was like a new piece of the puzzle. Castiel and I started a bit quicker than most, but we still didn't have a whole puzzle. We probably never would.

He frowned. "Jealous?"

I folded my arms across my chest and avoided his gaze. "Even back before all the fighting started, things still weren't perfect," I replied tightly. "Michael and Lucifer were joined at the hip. They were just like Sam and Dean back then. But I was just…I was the annoying kid brother that followed them around."

"You are jealous of the bond Sam and Dean share."

"Not anymore." I looked up and could see that Castiel was still confused. "Look, I don't expect you to understand. Watching Sam and Dean together was like a good kick in the head. It was like looking at Michael and Lucifer before everything went wrong. But nothing I did would make them let go. I just…"

I trailed off. Castiel continued for me, though. "You believed that if you succeeded in having Sam give up Dean, you would have made the right decision to leave home."

I bit my tongue and shrugged. "Yeah," I muttered. "_That's_ why."

Unfortunately for me, Castiel had been spending time with Dean Winchester and now knew what sarcasm was. "Is there more?"

"Look, can we change the subject?" I _really_ didn't want to keep talking about this.

Castiel shook his head, though. "No, Gabriel. Sam and Dean are…important to me. I do not want to see them harmed again."

I sighed and stood, making my way over to the window. I forced myself to focus on the sky and recited the names of every star and constellation I could see in my head so I wouldn't think about what I was saying. "I love our brothers, Castiel," I murmured. "But I've never meant half as much to any of them as they've meant to me. Sam and Dean reminded me too much of Michael and Lucifer. Sam never stopped trying to save Dean. It just made me remember how nobody looked for me when I left. How Michael told everyone I was dead instead of trying to find me."

Despite my efforts, I couldn't quell the pain from those memories. When I left home, I expected Michael and Raphael to send half the Host after me.

I was naïve. A naïve idiot. They didn't send _anyone._ They just told everyone I was dead and moved on. They didn't _care._ And that had _hurt._ They were my brothers. I had loved them more than anything despite everything. And they didn't even _look_ for me.

Castiel stepped closer to me. He didn't reach out, not physically or with his grace, but I could feel him resisting the urge. "I cared," he replied. "When you left, _I_ cared, Gabriel."

I remembered seeing as much before. I remembered seeing how he had looked for me and Michael had told him I wasn't coming back. I remembered seeing how he had found a few of my feathers and had hidden them away from everyone.

I turned and looked at him. "I know, Castiel," I replied softly, "and I'm sorry. I know better now."

"Why now? Why go to the Winchesters now and offer help?"

I shrugged. "No clue," I replied, turning back to the window. "If I had waited any longer, it would have been a bit late, don't you think?"

"It's more than that," he replied. "Brother, you are helping for _more_ than just our family." He put a hand on my shoulder lightly. _"Why?"_

I sighed heavily. I should have known that joining up with one of my brothers would end in being serious so often. No one knew how to relax.

Now I'm going to be straight with you. When I sat down to write this entire thing out, I planned on omitting this little conversation. I didn't want the Winchesters to read what I said next and they were standing over my shoulder _all the time._ Dean would mock me for all eternity and Sam would definitely be embarrassed that I actually wrote it down. But it's late right now and both Dean and Sam are out on a hunt. Besides, I can always block this passage from them with a little mojo. Hey, what can I say? I'm feeling generous tonight.

"They're better than us, Castiel," I murmured. "All of them. The humans. But especially Sam and Dean. They don't deserve this."

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could tell that Castiel was frowning. "But why now?"

"Sam prayed," I replied quietly. "The moment he found out killing Lilith set Lucifer free, he started praying. To everyone_._ I…I couldn't block it out."

"I was not brought back until after Lucifer's rising," Castiel said as he blinked. "I…did not realise."

I shook my head. "Stupid kid didn't even pray for himself. He just started praying for help. That someone would help fix his mistake so no one got hurt."

"That is why you decided to help? Because of Sam's prayer?"

I turned back to look up at Castiel. "Why not? The kid was filled up with demon blood and just let the devil out of hell and the first thing he does is _pray._ What can I say? I'm an optimist."

Castiel just looked at me and _damn it_ why did he have to be so observant? I could just _tell_ that he was figuring something out. I shifted anxiously. It wouldn't be so bad if he just said something, but he only looked_._ Damn little brothers.

"You care for Sam," he said bluntly, "but you do not want to admit it."

I shrugged. "What, you're the only one allowed to get drawn in by those stupid Winchesters?"

"Of course not," he replied shortly. "But I would not have expected it from you."

I glared. "And why's that, bucko?"

Castiel frowned. "I did not mean to insult you, brother," he replied.

I glanced at him and shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

He blinked, but moved on and I was thankful. Despite the evidence to the contrary, I _really_ don't like caring and sharing. It was just…necessary. "What is your plan?"

I sighed. "I don't really have much of one," I admitted. "I know a way we can get Lucifer out of the way, but that won't solve our problem with Michael."

Castiel came to stand next to me. "I've been searching for our Father," he said softly.

"Yeah. I know, little brother."

I felt him tense up. "You believe as Raphael does, then," he said lowly. "You believe our Father is dead?"

I turned to face him abruptly. "Raphael believes _what?"_ Everything really _had_ gone to hell, hadn't it? How long had Michael and Raphael been getting away with this shit? "No, Castiel, Dad's not _dead._ But if he doesn't want to be found, then we're not gonna find him."

"He _must _care, Gabriel," he replied, staring out the window. "If he didn't, I would not be alive."

I shook my head. "Doesn't mean He wants to help with this mess, bro. Just means He likes you."

"And Sam and Dean. He moved them from Lucifer's path."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Of _course_ the Winchesters were Dad's favourites. I shouldn't have been surprised, really. You either loved the Winchesters or you hated them. There wasn't an in-between.

Castiel shifted and I could tell that he wanted to say something. Before he could, Sam woke up with a muffled gasp. He blinked and sat up before looking around. He frowned before seeing Castiel and I.

"What is this?" His voice was rough and I wondered for a moment if I had misread my brother. Had Lucifer already started trying to worm his way back into Sam's dreams?

I rolled my eyes. "What does it look like? I can put you back on the couch if that's what you really want." He frowned, but didn't reply. The kid looked awful_._ He had dark circles under his eyes and I wondered if he had gotten any sleep since I left. Hadn't I asked Castiel to watch him?

Ignoring my brother, I took a few steps forward and Sam looked up at me wearily. "You okay, kiddo? You're starting to resemble Death and that's definitely not something you want. He's not much of a looker."

Sam huffed out a sad excuse for a laugh – really, did the Winchesters _know_ how to really laugh? I didn't think they did. "I'm fine," he said looking away and laying back down, putting his arm over his eyes.

That wasn't good enough. I knew the Winchesters weren't good at admitting when they were weak, but this _couldn't_ happen_._ If I was going to help, then I needed to know what was going on in their heads. The last thing I wanted was to actually have to look inside their heads. They wouldn't like it and things would just get…messy. They would just have to suck it up.

"No, you're not. And this is _not_ how things are going to go down, Sam. You want to keep Lucifer out of your head? You want to keep saying no to him? Then you have to tell me what's wrong."

He moved his arm and was looking at me in disbelief. "It was a _nightmare_, Gabriel. I had them before Lucifer. If we manage to actually get rid of him or whatever you're planning, I'll have them after he's gone too. It's not a big deal."

I shook my head. "You don't know that. Lucifer is powerful. He could be feeding you dreams without actually appearing to you."

"So, what then? You want me to start telling you about every dream I have? How are you going to know if it's Lucifer or not?" He sat up and was looking at me with a nasty look on his face. I was surprised it had taken him this long to react like this. It was what I had been expecting, after all.

I raised an eyebrow. "I'll know. Lucifer has a certain…style. Trust me, I'll know."

He still didn't look happy. "Trust you? That's all I get? You want to know about _everything _that's going on my head and all I get is a _'trust me?'_ That's not _enough_, Gabriel."

I narrowed my eyes. "That's all you're gonna _get_, Sam. Deal with it."

He glared and stood, stepping forward angrily. "I don't have any _reason_ to trust you. All I know is that you want to help us because you don't want to pick one brother over the other. And you want me to tell you about my dreams?"

I sighed and folded my arms, avoiding his gaze. "You have to tell _someone_. You don't wanna tell me? Fine. Tell Castiel. But one of us has to know, Sammy."

I turned and made my way to the backdoor. Castiel caught my gaze on the way by and he reached out to brush his grace against mine. _Damn_ him. Really. I didn't like how perceptive he was.

I paused next to him, meeting his eye and returning his embrace. As much as I hated how much he noticed, having part of my family back was indescribable – even if it was a brother as young as Castiel. To have that little piece of home – you humans can't imagine how good that felt.

When I got outside, I closed my eyes and sighed. _Humans._ I forgot how messy things got with mortals. They brought the best and worst out of _everyone._ It had been so long since I really spent time around them. I forgot how frustrating it was.

You see, humans like the Winchesters made me _feel._ They were so much like what my Father wanted, they made me like them. They made _me_ act like a human.

It was infuriating.

"Hello, Wind Walker."

I turned to see Sigyn standing in the shadows of the porch. "Sigyn? What - ?"

She stepped forward and I saw that she was dressed far more like the human she looked like. Her long, blonde hair was tied back in a braid and she wore a pair of jeans and a blouse. "I have a message from Coyote. He was looking for you and found me. I…asked around. The Winchesters have a friend who lives here."

I frowned. "A message? What message?"

"He said that Anansi, Raven, and Reynard have offered help," she replied. "Though he said you should beware of Eris. He believes that she is helping your brother."

I scowled. "Which one?" I grumbled.

"Oh, stop that now," she reprimanded lightly. "I won't feel sorry for you and you know it."

"What did Coyote say about Eris?"

Sigyn moved into the light and shook her head. "Not much. Only that she suggested she was working with those that would move against you."

"Damn it," I sighed. "If Eris is working with Lucifer then Iktomi is with him too. I was hoping they would stay out of it. They won't be happy to see me."

"I'm sure – " Suddenly, Sigyn broke off and she chuckled. "We have an audience, it seems."

When I turned, I saw that Sam was standing at the door. He stepped onto the porch and was eyeing Sigyn warily. Hunters. Couldn't trust _anyone_. They really needed to work on that.

Sigyn smiled, though. I resisted the urge to groan. I could just _tell_ that she was going to embarrass me. "Hello," she greeted. "You must be a Winchester."

Sam blinked and glanced at me. "Sam, this is Sigyn. She's going to help us."

He frowned. "Sigyn? The Norse goddess?"

She smiled brightly. "You've heard of me!"

Sam blinked and I could tell that he was caught off guard. He turned to look at me. "Gabriel? How do you know - ?"

I opened by mouth to answer, but Sigyn beat me to it. Surprising, right? Let me tell you, most of you humans believe Sigyn is this sweet, little mousy thing. The truth is she's like a _shark._ No, really. She is. Well, maybe not a shark. More like one of those animals you all keep in captivity and think is tamed and sweet until it viciously attacks.

But don't tell her that. She'd kill me.

She turned to look at me with a mischievous grin. "You mean you haven't told them?"

I glared half-heartedly. "I haven't had the chance."

Sigyn tried to hide a grin and failed miserably. "Always keeping secrets, aren't you, Wind Walker?"

"What's she talking about, Gabriel?"

I turned to look at Sam. He was frowning and it was obvious that he thought I was hiding a huge, dark secret. Maybe it was. "I _may_ have disguised myself as Loki, okay?"

Sam's eyes widened and he blinked. "Loki? You're – you're _Loki?"_

I raised my eyebrows and shrugged. "What? You think I could have hidden away all that time without showing off a bit?"

He turned to glance at Sigyn with a frown. "Does that mean the stories are true?" He looked at me in shock for a moment. "Did you really bang a _horse?"_

I glared. "Oh, shut up, Winchester. No one asked you."

Sam laughed shortly and in disbelief. "You're lucky Dean doesn't know anything about mythology. He'd _never _let you live it down."

I rolled my eyes. "He _could._ But your brother doesn't exactly have a clean slate when it comes to sexual encounters. I'm sure I could dig up some dirt on him."

Sam made a face before he turned to Sigyn. "Does that mean you and Gabriel were really married?"

Sigyn smiled. "Not in the sense that you are thinking of," she replied. "I was just the only one that didn't want him dead at the time."

"Hey! You _love_ me and you know it," I shot back.

"Of course, dear, keep telling yourself that," she said with a smile.

I glared before turning back to Sam. "What did you need, kiddo?"

He looked down and glanced at Sigyn. "Uh…could we talk?"

Sigyn smiled and turned to me. "You said earlier that you were with one of your brothers. I would very much like to meet him, if you don't mind."

I shrugged. "Sure, he's inside." I gestured to Sam to follow me. "C'mon, Sammy, let's take a walk."

Sigyn went inside and Sam and I made our way through the junkyard quietly. Sam was quieter now that he wasn't distracted by my rather illustrious past and Sigyn. He didn't speak until we had almost left the towers of cars. In fact, I could see the field that was past them.

"Look, I…I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I just – "

"It's fine, Sam," I said, cutting him off. "I get it. And you weren't wrong. Frankly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner. This is what I expected to happen."

He shook his head slightly. "That doesn't make it _right."_

I shrugged. "It is what it is."

"Still," he persisted, "I'm sorry."

Turning to glare at him, I said, "If I say 'okay' will you let it go?" Sam grinned so I rolled my eyes. _"Fine,_ I accept your unnecessary and completely unneeded apology."

"Good," he replied. He shifted slightly and let me tell you – seeing Sam nervous? Probably one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I have ever seen. He was just so _huge_ and he somehow managed to look like a puppy. It was hysterical.

"What is it?"

"Cas told us you helped him," he replied after a moment. "He said he wasn't falling anymore. That you recharged his grace, or something."

I shook my head. "Castiel talks too much," I mumbled.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Was he lying?"

"Well…no." I glanced up at him to see that he was grinning. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up. Righting wrongs was kind of my job, wasn't it?"

He smirked. "This is a bit more self-sacrificing than your days as a Trickster, though."

I scoffed. "It wasn't _self-sacrificing._"

"Not exactly," Sam replied. "But you didn't _have_ to do it. And you weren't punishing anyone. You helped him because you wanted to."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Isn't there some kind of rule against shit like this?"

Sam laughed. "What, you mean Dean's 'no chick-flick moments?'" When I nodded he laughed again. "In case you haven't noticed, that rule doesn't stick very well."

I scoffed. "Oh, I noticed. I definitely noticed."

"So what's your plan?"

"Don't have much of one yet, kiddo," I replied with a shrug. "I have an idea, but it's not much of a plan yet."

When I didn't say anything else, Sam put his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Then what's your _idea,_ Gabriel?"

I sighed. "You know the Horsemen? Well, they have these rings and when you use all of them together, they open up the Cage."

Sam blinked. "You mean we could lock Lucifer back up?"

I nodded, but avoided his gaze. "Yeah. But getting the rings won't be easy. They won't let go of them easily."

"But we already have one of them!"

I turned at Sam's excited reply. "What? How?"

"One of Bobby's friends – a hunter – called and was talking about a demon attack. We showed up at the town and found out that it was War trying to turn the people against each other. Dean and I caught him by surprise and cut off his ring."

I shook my head. "How do you _do_ it? Are you two a _magnet_ for trouble or something?"

He grinned. "That's what Bobby tells us," he replied.

"Of course, it doesn't solve our problem of what to do _after_ Lucifer is locked up again. Or how we're gonna trick my big bro back into his cage."

I looked away. The fact was I really didn't _want_ to lock Lucifer up again. He was my brother. And hell was…well, it was _hell._ The worst thing there is. It twisted people. Cut them off from everything except pain. I didn't _want_ to send my brother back there.

But I couldn't let him do this. I couldn't let him and Michael use the Winchesters to burn up the world. So I had to suck it up and just _do _it.

"Gabriel? You okay?"

I blinked and turned to see Sam looking down at me with a frown and puppy-dog eyes. "Yeah, Sam. I'm fine."

He rolled his eyes. "Y'know, for someone that lied about his identity for thousands of years, you're a really bad liar."

I turned and glared. "Shut up, Winchester, I'm a _damn_ good liar. Best liar there is."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, sure."

"Well, c'mon," I grumbled. "I don't even want to think about the kind of stories Sigyn is telling Castiel right now." Sam frowned and looked confused. "What? I don't think there's anyone who loves to torture me as much as Sigyn does."

Sam smirked as I walked past him. "Sounds like she'll fit in just fine, then."


	5. Five

_**Chapter Five: In Which the Winchesters Get Their Asses Handed to Them, And Still Insist That They Don't Need Angelic Assistance While On 'Routine Hunts'**_

Now we come to an interesting point in this little story. Because after I got back to the Winchesters, Castiel and I had to start searching for Famine and Pestilence. Death was a whole other story and would be tackled later.

So little bro and I went off to search for the Horsemen and left the Winchesters back at Singer's.

I really should have known better.

You see, the Winchesters weren't very good at sitting tight and _waiting._ So while Castiel and I went to look for Famine and Pestilence, they decided to go on a hunt. Should be easy, right? A couple of hunters should be able to handle a few demons no problem!

Except that they walked right into a trap set by my dear older brother. Best guess? Lucifer was getting antsy about Sam's dreamscape being locked up tight and he wanted to test the waters, so to speak.

Of course, there were quite a few problems with this plan.

First of all, demons don't follow orders well. Even orders like, "bring Sam Winchester alive." Second, I was on the other side of the country and didn't even realise the Winchesters were being attacked – and let me tell you, _that_ would change. Didn't I tell them we could hear them if they prayed?

Then again, Lucifer himself probably would have come to make an appearance if I showed up. So maybe it was a good thing that the brothers were so stupid.

So what happened was that Sam and Dean went in expecting to have to exorcise a handful of demons and were met with over a dozen. They managed to get away, but Sam was injured. And when I say injured, I mean has-a-gigantic-piece-of-rotting-wood-in-his-shoulder injured.

And this is where I have to hand over my writing pen to another. I can't exactly talk about what I wasn't there for, now can I?

So let me introduce you to a hunter by the name of Adriana Nelson. Though you probably shouldn't call her that. She hates it. Prefers to go by Addy.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from calling her Adriana.

Anyway, Addy is pretty young for a hunter. Younger than even Sam and Dean. When I met her, she had _just_ celebrated her 21st birthday. She came from a rich family that suffered from a pretty serious haunting when she was eight. Addy had always been the odd one out and the near-death of her family only made her curious.

Over the years, she built up an impressive library on the supernatural. When she turned eighteen, she used the trust fund that had been building up over the years to build a house that was completely secure from anything supernatural. The foundation of the house had salt in the concrete and there was a fence made out of iron that surrounded the entire place. There were also protective sigils and devil traps everywhere.

By day, Addy went to college and studied nursing like any normal eighteen year old. No one even noticed when she left for entire weekends and came back bloody and bruised. They thought she was just homesick or visiting friends. They had no idea she was hunting monsters and demons and ghosts.

She ran into Singer at one point and he helped her out of a tight spot with some demons. She returned the favour by stitching up a nasty cut on his leg. They kept in touch after that.

So when Dean called Bobby to say that Sam was impaled and that they were in Arizona, he sent them to Addy.

* * *

><p>I apologise in advance, readers, for whatever horrible diatribe Gabriel forced you to sit through in order to introduce me. He is wordy in real life and I can only imagine that the effect is multiplied when he is writing.<p>

Unfortunately, he did not see fit to give me what he has already written (and I don't for a minute believe his crap about not being able to bring physical objects past the mortal plane or whatever shit he came up with), so I am going into this blindly.

My name is Addy Nelson and Gabriel asked me to write my account of what happened when I met the Winchesters. Of course, he failed to mention why exactly he was writing up an account of everything that happened. Especially since they already had a prophet writing their life story. Or why he needed _me_ to write it when I obviously didn't survive the Apocalypse.

I've found that it's better not to question the inner-workings of Gabriel's psyche. It's better just to smile and nod. Or, in this case, agree so he stops trying to badger you into an early grave. Or, _another_ early grave in my case.

For me, it started out as a normal day. I worked at the Phoenix Children's Hospital weekdays. I know what you're thinking – a hunter that chooses to spend her off-time with dying kids? To answer your question, I am _not_ unbalanced. I swear. The kids I worked with were amazing and they put hunting in perspective for me. Most hunters have problems coming to terms with the fact that they couldn't save everyone.

I didn't have that problem.

On the bad days, being at the hospital helped when a hunt went bad. And it worked the other way too. Whenever something went bad at the hospital, nothing felt quite as good as killing a shapeshifter or getting rid of a poltergeist.

It was a normal Thursday evening for me. That is, until I got a call from Bobby Singer.

I met Bobby when I was eighteen and stupid. I went hunting on my own when I was exhausted from college classes and didn't really have any idea of what I was going up against. I nearly got myself killed by half a dozen demons in Albuquerque the weekend after finals. Bobby got me out alive and I stitched up his leg so he didn't have to go to a hospital. We kept in touch after that. He checked in on me every now and then to make sure that I was all right.

I was about to order something out for dinner when my landline rang.

"Hello, Addy Nelson," I said distractedly, perusing my take-out menus.

"Kid, I need some help."

I frowned. Bobby had never called for help before and he never sounded so serious. "Bobby? What's going on?"

"Some friends of mine got into trouble. They need help and are close to you."

I stood and started gathering supplies. If Bobby was sending hunters my way…well, it had to be bad. "How bad is it?"

"Bad. Dean told me that Sam's got a piece o'broken fence in his shoulder." I heard him sigh. "I know it's askin' a lot, but those boys are family to me, Addy."

I paused for a moment. I had never heard Bobby so serious. Even when he was pulling me out of that swarm of demons, he was shouting insults at me and calling me names. "I'll take care of them," I said softly. "How far out are they?"

"Not far. 'Bout ten minutes." He paused and I heard him clear his throat. "Thanks, kid."

As soon as I hung up the phone, I started moving. My house was, to put it lightly, huge. I made sure that it was built to withstand attack and infiltration from supernatural creatures. I had a guest bedroom on the first floor that would work well as a makeshift ER. I set a pot of water to boil in the kitchen so I could sterilise everything and grabbed all the painkillers I had. I actually had some that might help with a serious injury. I even had a mostly-full bottle of Vicodin from getting my wisdom teeth pulled the year before.

I was just putting clean sheets on the bed when I heard the rumble of a car pulling into the driveway. I finished as quickly as I could and laid out the medical instruments on the bedside table messily before rushing to the front door. An old, classic, boat of a car was sitting in my driveway with one of the back doors open. I hurried down next to the tall man that was about to try and pull the injured one out of the back.

"Stop! Don't move him!"

He looked up when I came down. I tried to move past him to get a look at the man who had to be Sam, but he blocked me. _"You're_ Addy?"

I nodded and tried to peer around him. "Yes, now are you going to let me look at him or not?"

"You're Bobby's friend?" He sounded disbelieving and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm young. It doesn't mean I can't help him. Bobby helped me out of a tight-spot and I patched him up. Now _can I please help your partner?"_

He continued to look at me suspiciously, but his worry must have won out over his paranoia. He stepped to the side and I crouched over to get a good look at my patient. He was curled onto the seat and I could hear that he was whimpering from the pain and I was shocked that he was even _conscious._

His back was to me, so I could see the piece of wood that was lodged in his left shoulder. It was bad. _Very _bad. But it wasn't as bad as it _could_ have been. The piece of wood was lodged in his shoulder at an angle from above – it was the only reason he hadn't bled out. It was bad because of how large the wound was, but he was lucky because it wasn't very _deep._

I put a hand on his uninjured shoulder and leaned closer. "Hi, Sam," I said in his ear quietly. "My name's Addy. I'm going to be taking care of you, okay?"

He turned his head slightly and I moved forward so I was in his line of vision. "D-Dean – "

"Right here, Sammy," Dean said, putting a hand on Sam's head. "She's a friend of Bobby's."

I stepped backwards and turned to Dean. "We have to get him inside, but he _cannot_ move his left side."

Dean looked at me seriously. "Can you help him?" His voice was low and rough. It was a tone of voice I recognised. I heard it from the parents and family members at the hospital all the time.

"I don't know how much I can do," I replied honestly, "but I'll do my best."

A moment later, he nodded and started to pull Sam out of the car. It was lucky that Sam was still conscious because he was even taller than Dean. It would have been near impossible to get him into the house if he was unconscious. As I stepped back so that Dean could have more room to maneuver, I saw something move in the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, it was gone and I had to turn back to help Dean.

Even with Sam conscious, it took both Dean and I to get him into the house. He was able to walk, but only just. I led Dean into the guest room. "Have him sit down, okay?"

While Dean made Sam sit, I went into the bathroom that was next door and poured a glass of water. I came back in the guest room to find Dean in front of Sam, hand on the back of his head and his head pressed against his chest. "It'll be okay, little brother," he murmured. "We're gonna patch you up. Gonna be okay, Sammy."

I didn't realise they were brothers until then. I cleared my throat, picking up the bottle of Vicodin before handing both to Dean. He glanced at the label and then looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged. "It's what's left from getting my wisdom teeth pulled," I replied. "They should knock him out."

I heard Dean coaxing Sam to swallow the pills and lay down on his stomach. I busied myself with getting antiseptic and other supplies organised. After we got the wood out of Sam's shoulder, I would have to work fast.

And this is where I am going to take artistic license and make a time jump. Because frankly? I don't feel like giving a play-by-play of how I stopped Sam from bleeding out. I'm sure Gabriel will be upset that I didn't include the blood and gore, but he can live with it.

I will mention that Dean was surprisingly helpful and calm during the entire process. Once I had helped Sam as much as I could, I collapsed into a chair in the corner. Dean sat next to his brother and I watched as he sighed heavily.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

I sighed and shrugged. "I don't know," I replied quietly. "I'm only a nurse, Dean. What he really needs is a surgeon. I've done all I can, but…I just don't know."

"Damn it," he swore. "Where the _hell_ is Cas?"

I frowned. You see, back then I had no idea angels even existed. I had no idea why Dean would think this 'Cas' could help. "He really needs a hospital. I've done all I can, but that is a serious wound and he lost a lot of blood. He needs - "

Dean glared. "I'm not taking him to a damn hospital. As soon as Cas answers his damn _phone_, everything will be fine."

I shook my head. "Look, I get it. He's your brother. But there are _any number_ of things that could go wrong even now. He could have shrapnel in his shoulder, he could get an infection – whoever this Cas is _can't help him._ Not right now."

He looked me over for a moment before saying anything. "How'd you get in the job?"

I met his gaze evenly. "Spirit tried to kill my family when I was eight. I got curious. Researched until I was old enough to take jobs and explain being away for days at a time to my family."

He nodded slightly. "So it's been what, four years?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Five, actually."

"Well, I've been in this job since I was four years old," he replied, his jaw set. "I've seen more than you can even _imagine._ And the shit that's been going on for the past few years? It would blow your little nurse mind."

I blinked. "So this 'Cas'," I said, "he's not human, is he?"

"Nope," Dean replied.

I stood and started placing the bloodied instruments into a cup so I could wash them. "I'm sorry, Dean, but he's not going to be getting in here then."

He frowned. "Why?"

"This place is warded against the supernatural. I had it built to keep anything supernatural out."

Dean chuckled. "It's not gonna keep Cas out, sweetheart. Not unless you've been reading up on Enochian warding sigils."

I frowned. "I wasn't aware that John Dee and Edward Kelley were actually onto something." Dean gave me a blank look and I rolled my eyes. "So are you trying to tell me that angels exist and that you're friends with one?"

He shrugged. "That's the bulk of it, yeah." He pulled out his phone and looked at it. "Once Cas gets the message, he'll be able to fix Sam up."

Sam was still lying on his stomach, his head turned to face his brother. Dean was looking down at him and I took my leave. There was something very intense about the way Dean looked at his brother. I went to the bathroom and started scrubbing the blood off of my hands.

It was slow work. Patching Sam up had taken a long time and he had lost a lot of blood. I had layers of it on my arms and hands and it took ages to wash it off. I was about to start washing the bloodied instruments when I heard shouting.

I had a shotgun in the linen closet and it was in my hand in seconds. When I got to the bedroom, I found Dean getting yelled at by a rather short man. There was another man standing by the short man, a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you that much of an _idiot,_ Winchester? A phone call? A _fucking phone call?_ I _told_ you about prayers and you couldn't bother to listen to me when your brother's _life_ was on the line?"

"Gabriel, I – "

"No! You are going to _shut up and listen _because I did _not _put my ass on the line so you could run off and get yourselves killed by a bunch of fucking demons that either Castiel or I could have taken out in _half a second_ if you had bothered to say _one lousy prayer!"_

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but I interrupted. Sam was still lying on the bed unconscious and very obviously injured. "I think the arguments can wait until Sam is healed, don't you?"

The short man, Gabriel, turned to glare at me. "And who the hell are you?"

I glared right back. "I'm the one that got the rotten piece of wood out of Sam's shoulder and kept him from dying. Now either heal him like Dean said you can or I'm calling an ambulance."

He held his glare for a few seconds before grinning slightly. "Well, whoever the hell you are, I like you."

I raised an eyebrow. "So happy to have your approval. Now are you going to fix him or not?"

He rolled his eyes and stepped past me, putting a hand on the back of Sam's head. I blinked in shock when it actually worked. Call me a pessimist, but in that moment I honestly believed that I was going to have to call an ambulance. Even with the overwhelming evidence of two strangers standing in her house that I _didn't let in_, I still didn't quite believe it.

Until Sam's clothes were spontaneously changed and the blood cleared. He turned back to me with a frown. "How drugged _is_ he?"

"We gave him some Vicodin."

He sighed. "Well, he's going to have to sleep that off."

I watched as the three men stood uncomfortably for a few minutes. I rolled my eyes. "I was about to order pizza. How much should I get?"

Castiel didn't eat, but Dean and Gabriel both joined me. I waited to begin my interrogation until we had food. "So, why are angels so concerned about a couple of hunters anyway?"

"Long story," Dean replied before shoving half a piece of pizza into his mouth.

I looked away from him to the angels. "Then give me the short story."

Gabriel grinned around a mouthful of food. "Well, we're trying to stop the Apocalypse and if either of these two did anything stupid enough to get themselves killed, my big brothers would snatch them up and use them as vessels to try and burn the planet."

I blinked and raised an eyebrow before taking a bite of my own pizza. "That's a good reason to keep them alive, then. Any particular reason your brothers are so intent on these two?"

Castiel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I got the feeling that he wasn't comfortable very often. "Angels need vessels to walk the earth. Sam and Dean are the true vessels of Lucifer and Michael."

I frowned. "So, what? It's like possession, but for specific people?"

"Pretty much," Dean replied before shoving more pizza into his mouth.

I shook my head. "This is insane."

Gabriel grinned. "Welcome to the party, sister. It's a rough ride."

"So how exactly do you plan to stop the _devil?_ I mean…even with a couple of angels on your side, it won't be easy."

"Hey! I'm not just _any_ angel," Gabriel replied sharply. "I am an _archangel._ You think I can't take on my brother?"

I shook my head slightly. "I think that he's the _devil_ and that taking him on at all is crazy. Even for an archangel."

His frown melted into a grin. "You're smart, then." He turned to Dean. "See? This is what hunters who want to _stay alive_ act like. They don't go running into situations _blindly."_

Dean glared. "You're worse than a mother-hen. Just shut up, all right? It's not _our_ fault that Lucifer got antsy."

The archangel blinked. "What are you talking about?" His voice was low and even though it was technically a question, it didn't sound like one.

Gabriel's sudden seriousness did not catch Dean's notice. "The demons. After Sam got hurt, they started yelling about how Lucifer wanted him alive and how he was gonna be pissed."

He shot to his feet. "And you didn't think that was worth mentioning? _Damn it, _why do you have to be so _stupid!" _A moment later, he vanished and left us all blinking.

Dean groaned. "What the _hell?"_

"If the demon attack was orchestrated by Lucifer, it may mean that he knows where we are," Castiel replied, standing and peering out of a window sharply. "Gabriel is currently setting up wards to keep him from coming near this premises."

"Well, that's good," I muttered. "If nothing else, at least Satan can't get in my house now."

Dean shook his head and glanced at me before standing to join Castiel. "Don't be too excited," he grumbled. "If he _really_ wants to chat with you, he'll just visit your dreams."

I sighed. "Of _course_ he can," I mumbled. "Is he coming?"

Castiel did not answer immediately. "No," he finally replied. "Gabriel and I are the only angels present."

Dean frowned. "What is it, Cas?"

He shook his head. "It is nothing. Gabriel is taking care of it."

"You were followed, jackass."

I turned to see Gabriel standing across the room against another window. "One of the demons, right?"

He glanced at me. "How did you know that?"

I shrugged. "I saw something moving when we were getting Sam inside. It was probably testing the boundaries for weak points."

Gabriel shook his head. "How did you get this place anyway?"

"Built it," I replied. "Or, had it built. I worked with the architects. I'm sure they think I'm a paranoid occultist or something. Fences of iron that are bolted into buried slabs of concrete that surround all my land. The foundation of the house has salt mixed into the cement and every window pane and door frame has a removable slat that has a pipe in it. I can fill them with salt and it works just as well as a line. I also carved sigils into every beam of wood the workers used."

Dean whistled lowly. "How the hell did you manage all of _that?"_

I grinned. "I come from a very, very rich family. Even after building this place, I still have quite a bit of money left in my trust fund."

"We should leave,"Castiel said. "We do not know if the demon reported this location to anyone."

Gabriel sighed. "All right. I'll get Sam back to Singer's. You can handle Dean and his oh-so-precious car, bro."

He turned towards the guest room. "Wait," I said before they could leave. "If you need any help. You know, with stopping the Apocalypse? Call me up, okay?"

"Sure thing, buttercup," Gabriel said with a grin.

I glared. "The name's _Addy," _I corrected fiercely. "I'm not a _flower_ or some poorly-named princess."

He grinned. "With a tone like that, I think that _adder_ might fit you better, kid. See you around."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I turned to Dean and he held out a hand to me. "Thank you. For, you know…"

"Saving your brother's ass?" I asked with a grin.

He huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, that. You need any help, give us a call."

And that's it. I'm not quite sure how Gabriel expects me to end this. All in all, it was a bloody and eventful encounter. I don't know why he felt the need to have me explain all of this. Wouldn't it have been easier for him to just tell you that Sam got injured and that I helped?

Well, it's Gabriel. Like I said before, it's better to just smile and nod.

* * *

><p>Well, there you have it. The idiot Winchesters made a friend after nearly getting themselves killed. Only problem is that they weren't smart enough to avoid the demons following them.<p>

So Castiel and I got the boys out of there and back to Singer's as quick as we could. Better to be quick about it, right? I got Sam settled in the bed before heading out to where Singer was doing research. Damn, but the kid must have had a hell of an intolerance to meds because he was _out._

"What'd those idjits do this time?"

I shrugged in reply. "Lucifer sent some demons after them," I replied. "He's getting antsy since I've warded Sam's dreams against him."

Bobby glanced back to the room that Sam was sleeping in. "He all right?"

"He'll be fine," I replied. "Your friend patched him up pretty well. He's sleeping off some Vicodin."

He shook his head and grumbled, "Those boys are gonna get themselves killed."

I chuckled slightly and turned in time to see Castiel appear with Dean. Dean looked around before turning back to me. "Sam – "

"He's fine," I replied. "Good as new. Just letting him sleep off all those meds."

He frowned. "What, you can't mojo the drugs out?"

"Sure I could."

He looked at me angrily and took a step forward. "Then why _don't_ you? Keeping him drugged up can't be _good_ for him – "

"It is if it he has a decent night's sleep, Dean," Castiel interrupted. "He has been suffering from nightmares and has not been sleeping well."

Dean frowned, but only grumbled to himself and left the room. I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Castiel. I brushed my grace against his and after a moment he nodded. I followed Dean out to the back porch. He was sitting on the back step and running a hand over his face.

"Don't worry, bucko, your brother'll be fine."

I sat down next to him heavily. He sighed and threw me a half-hearted glare. "What d'you want?"

I raised an eyebrow and leaned back on my hands. "Me? I don't want anything." I paused. "Well, except for chocolate. I _always_ want chocolate."

He shook his head. "What are you even _doing _here? You expect me to believe that after years of being in hiding you suddenly decided to pick a side in this mess?"

I really should have expected this. Dean was, after all, pretty much the only one that hadn't questioned my motives yet. It was best not to get too touchy-feely with Dean, though. Just be straight with him.

"Because Sam deserves better than to be burned up by my brother," I replied shortly.

He shook his head. "Not gonna disagree with you there," he replied. "But why now?"

"Because I don't understand your brother," I replied with a chuckle.

Dean glared. "Can't you ever just answer a question with a straight answer?"

I rolled my eyes. "I _am_ giving you a straight answer, dumbass. Your brother is a puzzle and if he says 'yes' to Lucifer, I'm never going to figure him out."

"So, what? You're helping us because Sam's a freak?"

I glared. "He's not a _freak._ He's just…weird."

He chuckled in reply. "_I _could've told you that."

"Don't you know how to shut _up?"_ I sighed and turned away from him. "Look, I know you're not into the whole God and praying thing. But you don't understand how…_rare_ it is to find someone with as much faith as your brother. Especially after all the shit he's been put through."

Dean frowned and didn't say anything for a moment. "So you _were_ listening in on prayers."

I shook my head. "No, I wasn't. Sometimes it just got…too hard to block out."

"And one o'those times was Sam praying? What about?"

I turned to meet his gaze. "The night he killed Lilith." Dean blinked and looked away. I turned as well, focusing on the towers of dilapidated cars. "Minute he realised killing the bitch let Lucifer out, he started praying to everyone. Wanted someone to fix his mistake, make sure nothing bad happened to people because of him." I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. "He thought he was going to die."

Dean was quiet for a long time. Finally, he said, "I get it. You've got a crush on my baby brother."

I turned to glare at him and he was smirking at me. "I don't have a _crush_ on the kid," I retorted. "He's just…interesting."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, sure. Just make sure I don't have to hunt you down or something. Don't think Cas would be too happy if I tried to kill you. For some reason he actually _likes_ you."

"Could say the same about _you_, jackass."

He grinned evilly and I seriously wondered why the hell I was putting up with this nonsense. "What? Trickster can't stand a little teasing?"

I scoffed. _"Please._ Like _you_ could push my limits."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Pretty sure I've already done that. You _did_ throw me into a wall, you know."

I shrugged. "Maybe I just like throwing you into walls. You're pretty annoying."

He shook his head and looked away. I had a feeling that things were about to get serious again. "Look, I just want an answer to something. You answer _one_ thing for me, and I'll try this whole 'trust' thing, all right?"

I nodded. "You wanna know why I killed you all those times, right?"

He shook his head. "No. I wanna know why you put Sammy through _any_ of that shit. We both know it wasn't about killin' me. It was about Sam. What were you doing?"

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and sighed. "I was being stupid, that's what," I replied. "There were a lot of…really stupid reasons that I am _not_ getting into with you. Mostly, I thought I could stop the kid from going down the path to Lucifer if I got him to understand he couldn't save you." I laughed derisively. "Didn't work at all. He was still trying to save you even after you'd been dead for six months."

"_What?"_

I turned to look at him and I realised that Sam had never told him about the six months when I stopped killing Dean. Damn. "Sam didn't say?" I asked uselessly. He shook his head. "Well…there was more than one Wednesday. You stayed dead the first time. Sam spent six months tracking me down so he could get me to bring you back."

Dean swore under his breath. _"Damn_ it, Sam," he mumbled.

"I've already talked to Sam about it," I replied. "We're, uh…we have an understanding."

"So killing me over an' over was your way of trying to _help_ us?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was an idiot, okay? You want me to bring up some of your more idiotic stunts?"

Dean scoffed, but didn't have time to reply. Castiel opened the door loudly behind us. "Something is wrong," he said swiftly.

His grace brushed against mine, letting me know what was wrong without wasting time. "_Damn it!"_

I didn't waste time walking back into the house and to Sam's side. Flying was faster, and we needed speed. I was at Sam's side in half a second Now that Castiel had pointed it out to me, I could tell that his sleep wasn't natural – not even for someone drugged.

Lucifer was smart. He must have been poking at the wards I placed around Sam's dreamscape. He knew what the limits were and probably figured out that I was the one that put the wards up in the first place.

And he must have taken advantage of Sam's drugged state, because now Lucifer was locking me out of Sam's head. I wrapped my grace around him, trying to find a way to pull Sam out. Who knew how long my big brother had been in Sam's head and masking it?

But _damn_ Lucifer was thorough. He had tweaked the wards just enough to let him in and keep me out. I turned and Castiel was next to me, Dean following close behind. "Castiel – "

He nodded and pressed his grace against mine, pushing through the wards with some difficulty. Dean was saying something, but we ignored him. We could explain after we got Sam away from Lucifer.

The further he pressed past wards, the more Castiel began to sag against me. I held him up with both an arm and my grace. He was doing most of the work – I could only help him and do the same I did the first night I got to Singer's place. I wrapped my grace around Castiel's while threading bits of it through Dean and back to my brother.

When Sam shot up straight in the bed, Castiel fell against me. I wrapped my grace around him and he pressed against me. I could feel that Lucifer hadn't let go of Sam easily. He had fought Castiel. I was amazed that he was still standing.

Dean was next to Sam, asking what was wrong with many profanities. He turned to look at me and Castiel, though. "He knows," he choked out. "He knows about you, Gabriel. He – "

I shook my head and guided Castiel to sit down on the edge of the bed. "I know, Sam. It's okay."

"No, it's not," he replied roughly. "Gabe, he's going to try to – "

"_Sam,"_ I said harshly. "Stop, okay? It'll be fine. Just breathe."

"What the _hell_ just happened?" Dean was looking at all three of us. Apparently getting left out of the loop didn't suit him well.

I sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "Lucifer got past my wards on Sam's mind. He changed them to keep _me_ out of Sam's head. Castiel pulled Sam out."

Castiel glanced up at me tiredly. I brushed my grace against his again and he closed his eyes, returning the gesture. "What's wrong with Cas?"

"Lucifer did not release Sam easily," Castiel replied, glancing back at Dean.

He frowned. "You okay, man?"

Castiel gave him a look of complete and utter confusion – admittedly, a look that was on his face a lot because of his complete lack of understanding when it came to social activity – before nodding. "I'm fine."

I glanced at Sam. It was pretty obvious that the kid was reeling from whatever my brother had been doing. I looked at Castiel, brushing my grace against him again. He nodded and stood. "Dean," he murmured. "Will you walk with me?"

Dean blinked and glanced at his brother. "You okay, Sammy?" When Sam nodded, Dean followed Castiel out of the room. As soon as Dean was gone, Sam leaned forward and put his head on his knees. I bit my lip before stepping forward and taking Castiel's spot on the edge of the bed.

"You all right, kiddo?"

Sam didn't move for a few long moments. Even when he looked up, he still avoided my gaze. "You were right," he muttered.

I frowned. "'Bout what?"

"Lucifer," he replied. "He, ah…he gave me a nightmare." I didn't say anything. Sam wasn't like his brother. He would actually talk about what was bothering him as long as you didn't push. "He knew about you. I…he…"

I shook my head. "Hey," I murmured, pausing until he looked at me. "You don't have to tell me anything. We already know it was Lucifer."

He held my gaze for a few moments before looking down. "I dreamt that I had been drinking demon blood again," he murmured. "You…ah, you were trapped in a ring of holy fire. I was…I was hurting you."

"It was just a nightmare, Sam," I replied. "Lucifer was just trying to get information out of you."

He shook his head violently. Throwing the covers back, he moved to sit next to me on the edge of the bed. "It's not just that," he muttered, looking down at his hands blankly.

I sighed. _Damn_ Sam Winchester and his stupid puppy-dog eyes and ridiculous desire to help_ everyone. _"Don't worry, Sammy," I replied. "You won't be drinking demon blood anymore."

"How do you know?" He asked furiously. "How do you know I won't? I mean, we were getting attacked and losing, but when I saw those demons bleeding I just…I _wanted_…"

He trailed off. I turned to look at him. "It's an addiction. Even getting a clean slate and having it all wiped out of your system won't fix things. It'll still take time to get over it."

Sam's head hung low. "It doesn't make it okay," he muttered.

"Maybe not," I replied, leaning back on my hands and crossing my ankles. "But it makes it understandable." He turned to glance at me in disbelief. "If it makes you feel any better, the reason you won't be drinking demon blood anymore is because I'll stop you before it happens again."

He blinked. "You'd do that?"

I frowned, realising that he might be thinking something else. "Well, I'm not going to smite you if that's what you're asking."

He huffed out a laugh. "But you'll stop me from going dark side again?"

I scowled. "You never went _dark side,_" I grumbled. "You were just…misguided."

Sam blinked and stared at me. And let me tell you, the reaction he had was not the one I expected. Didn't I tell you that he never ceased to surprise me?

Still, I never would have imagined that Sam would react by kissing me. For one, I had been fairly certain the kid was straighter than a pole. Second, I wasn't even sure he was completely sure about _tolerating_ me for extended periods of time.

Let me tell you, _no one_ had surprised me more in…well, _ever _if I'm being honest.

Of course, I'm not one to pass up something given so readily. If Sam Winchester wanted to kiss me like I was the last person left on Earth, who was I to disagree?

_Damn it._ Now Dean is hovering over my shoulder and telling me to "fucking tell the truth, you little shit" and I'm going to smite him if he doesn't shut the hell up. _Okay_, so maybe I was a bit more…_enthusiastic_ than that.

Shit. _Fine,_ okay? I give! I jumped him, all right? But really, who can blame me? You can't expect that I would pass up something like _that._ Have you _seen_ the kid? He's gorgeous. And that stupidly long hair was actually really soft and he made fun noises when I pulled at it. And as I've stated before – he's huge. So yeah. Gorgeous.

And without getting overly mushy, I actually liked him too.

Of course, that's when Dean decided he was going to walk back in because _Father forbid_ he be away from Sam for more than thirty seconds. That's also when Sam jolted like he had been electrocuted and nearly fell off the bed. I grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around so that he fell back onto the bed before standing up.

"Oh, give it a rest," I barked at Dean as he gaped like a fish out of water. "So sorry if you can't stand the thought of someone wanting to bang your brother beyond your teasing. I'll control myself in the future."

I glanced back at Sam to see that he was blinking and looking completely confused. He met my eye and I threw him a grin before turning to leave.

You see, I was an idiot. In my defense, I wasn't exactly expecting anyone to _actually_ care about me. I mean, I spent how much time running away from home and killing douchebags? I didn't stop to think that Sam had kissed me for any reason aside from some perverse curiosity and sense of gratitude.

Like I said before, I didn't even think he was entirely sure about _tolerating_ me. And I was an idiot. Yeah, it's a cliché. Shut up. It was my life.

So I headed back out to Singer's back porch. I was getting well-acquainted with it as of late and Castiel was still out there. I thought it was better than being inside. He was looking at me with a knowing look in his eye.

"Don't, Castiel," I muttered. "Just don't, all right?"

He nodded. "As you wish, brother," he murmured. "But I believe you are being foolish."

I glared. "What? Because I like the kid? Don't think you have much room to criticise me there. Not with Dean walking around with your handprint branded onto his arm."

Then Castiel gave me a weird, half-smile. I got the feeling he was laughing at me in his own special Castiel way. "No, Gabriel. You are foolish for walking away." He brushed his grace against mine and I could feel that he was amused. "I will go and calm Dean."

I snorted. "That code for something, bro?"

He frowned. "I don't know what you mean."

I shook my head and waved my hand. "It's nothing, I'll explain later."

I spent quite a while on the back porch. I wanted to avoid hearing Sam's explanations of how it was just a fluke and it wouldn't happen again. Because really. How could it be anything else? It came out of fucking _nowhere. _I may not have realised it before then, but now? I knew that I had it _bad_ for Sam Winchester.

Yeah, Dad definitely had a sick sense of humour. We were going to have to have some words as soon as he came out of hiding. I had no doubt that he had planned for this. After all, what better way to punish me for leaving home than to put me right in the path of Sam Winchester?

You humans probably don't realise this, but my Father? He was a tricky son of a bitch. He had _plans_. And He knew what you would do in the face of those plans. Or, He knew what you _might _do in the face of those plans. So I had no doubt that Dad knew I would run off when the fighting didn't stop.

It figured that He would still be throwing curveballs at us even though He was on an extended vacation or something.


	6. Six

_**Chapter Six: Finding and Kicking the Asses of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse **__**Really Shouldn't Be As Difficult As It Is (So Let's Blame It On the Winchesters Being Involved)**_

Of course, running away from problems had never really worked for me. You would think I had learned my lesson by now. But no. I just kept proving to be an idiot, didn't I?

Anyway, when I finally made my way back into the house it was to find that Sam was sitting at the kitchen table in front of his laptop with a furious look on his face. I could hear Castiel's voice and figured he was probably talking to Dean. I frowned and sat at the end of the table.

"What happened?"

Sam didn't look up from his computer. "Dean's being a dick, that's what," he replied lowly. "He doesn't know when to shut his mouth."

Ah. So Dean was taking older brother prerogative and picking on his baby brother for getting some action. I should have known. "So what, he just gave up?"

I almost laughed when Sam chuckled and got a mischievous look in his eye. Hey, it was either stopping myself from laughing or stopping myself from jumping him. I _had_ been a Trickster, after all.

"Nah," Sam replied conspiratorially. "I just might've mentioned that he's just mad because Cas hasn't kissed _him_ yet_."_

I couldn't help it. I barked out a laugh. "You don't even know the half of it, kiddo," I chuckled.

I watched as his mouth twitched. I noticed that it was something he did when he was nervous. Damn. I was spending so much time around the Winchesters I was starting to notice their _mannerisms. _"Um…about earlier – "

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I said before flashing him a grin. "I know I'm irresistible."

His eyes narrowed and I was suddenly on the receiving end of an infamous Sam Winchester Bitchface. Yes, it is infamous. Shut up. You think I can't find you puny humans reading this?

"You're really not," he retorted before turning back to his laptop.

I glared. "I didn't hear you complaining before."

He shrugged. "Never said I didn't enjoy it. Just that you aren't irresistible."

"You know, I might not smite you, but I could definitely make you miserable."

"Can't be worse than when Dean put Nair in my shampoo when I was a kid," he replied. "Even _you_ have higher standards than that."

I raised an eyebrow. "Nair? Really?" I whistled lowly. "Damn, I never would have thought I'd have to out-prank _Dean Winchester."_

Sam chuckled. "If you stick around long enough, then you'll find out first-hand. Dean's an idiot and doesn't know when to quit. Especially when he's bored."

I snorted. "Yeah, like you're gonna keep me around when all this blows over," I replied with a laugh. "I know we're not friends, Sammy. You don't have to treat me like one."

He looked up with a frown. "Is that what you think? That you're just…just something to help us get out of this mess?"

I looked away for a moment in disbelief before looking back at him. "That's 'cause it's what I _am_. Here to help out how I can, but not expected to stick around afterwards."

His mouth started twitching again and he pulled his hands off of the laptop and turned so that he was facing me. "Damn it, Gabriel, that's not…" He shook his head, looking down. "You _are_ more than that."

"Why?" I asked with a frown. "I haven't even _done_ anything yet other than ask some friends for help."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't…you don't understand how much you've done. For me. I just…you're the only person that hasn't made me feel like…"

"Like what, kiddo?"

He met my gaze. "Like I can't fix this. Like…like I can't be saved."

I sighed and leaned forward on my chair. Sam's hands were folded between his knees and his fingers were twitching slightly. After a moment's hesitation, I covered them with mine.

"I'm going to tell you something and it's going to be ridiculously and horribly touchy-feely. Just so you're warned," I started. "There isn't a human in this world more worthy of being saved than you. Yeah, you've made mistakes, but that's part of being human. And I have never met a human that has tried to do as much good as you, Sam."

Sam stared at me with wide eyes. "I don't understand," he murmured. "I'm not…I mean, you can't mean that."

"I do mean it," I replied seriously. "You are a _rarity._ Even after all the shit you've been through, you _still_ have faith." I laughed derisively and leaned back. "Frankly, kiddo, you've got more faith than most of the Heavenly Host. Except for maybe Castiel." I shook my head and met his gaze. "All the things you regret the most aren't really you're fault. You were just part of a plan. And you deserve more than a life of getting pulled around my angels and demons."

He blinked and swallowed. "Gabriel…I can't…" He closed his eyes and swallowed again and I ignored the fact that I could tell he was going to cry. "Thank you."

I smiled and squeezed his hands. "Not a problem, Sammy." I sighed and stood. "Well, I'm going to have to go pull Castiel away from your brother. We're still not any closer to finding Famine or Pestilence."

He nodded silently, pinching the bridge of his nose. I grinned and clapped his shoulder on the way by. I had to stop myself from laughing when I saw Dean and Castiel. Castiel was standing close to him and they were just looking at each other. They really didn't have a concept of personal space, did they?

"Hey, bro," I greeted loudly. Dean jumped and turned. "Say goodbye to your boy toy, we've got work to do."

Dean glared. "I'm nobody's _toy_," he growled.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's not just a river in Egypt." I turned to Castiel. "I need to make a quick stop. Have a favour to cash in."

Castiel nodded and he followed me as I flew off to Raven's corner of the world. Raven was an expert at finding people. Especially ones in hiding. She would be able to help us find Famine and Pestilence since we weren't having any luck at all.

Raven was one of the few Tricksters that didn't move around too much. She liked to keep to herself and liked having a place to call home. She got along well with everyone. She had a little island carved out for herself in the Gulf of Bothnia – between Finland and Sweden.

Castiel and I appeared at the doorway of her rather spacious house. He frowned and looked around in confusion. "Gabriel, why are we in Finland?"

"Actually, we're on an island between Finland and Sweden," I corrected. "And we're here to talk to a friend of mine. She might be able to help us find Famine and Pestilence."

He frowned. "One of your friends lives here?"

"Yep," I replied with a nod. "A trickster by the name of Raven. She's got a knack for finding people that don't wanna be found."

Castiel frowned. "And you believe she can locate the horsemen?"

Before I could answer, the door opened violently. Raven stood in the door with a raised eyebrow. She was as tall as I was and had dark hair that was pulled out of her face. "Were you ever going to knock or was I going to be left waiting all day?"

I grinned slyly at her. "Good to see you too, Raven. How's it hangin'?"

She glared before rolling her eyes and stepping to the side. I glanced at Castiel and followed her inside. Raven was like me. Well, at least in the fact that she enjoyed living lavishly. Her house was more of a mansion and it was filled to the brim with everything imaginable.

"So, who's your friend?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but Castiel beat me to it. "I'm Castiel."

Raven turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Heck of a name. I was more thinking _what_ you are and why Loki saw fit to bring you here." She sat down on a very plush looking chair and looked at me. "Are you calling in your favour, Loki?"

I sat across from her pulling Castiel with me. "You told Coyote that you would help me against Heaven and Hell."

She nodded shortly. "I did," she replied. "Though I can't imagine you are quite ready for battle yet." Raven smiled and leaned back. "Even the archangel Gabriel can only do so much in such a short span of time. Unless your friend is more powerful than I think."

Castiel frowned. "I am not more powerful than an archangel," he replied lowly. "We wish your help in seeking the remaining Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

"The Horsemen? Why?"

"We need their rings," I replied. "If we can get them, we can open up the Cage down on in the Pit."

Raven sighed and, after a moment, she stood. "Follow me, I will find your Horsemen."

I won't give you the gory details on Raven's ritual to find Famine and Pestilence. It was a pretty strange ritual, even as far as rituals go. In the end, she managed to give us two locations.

"This is where you'll find them," she replied when the ritual was over and handed over a map of the US with two cities circled. "You'll have to find Death on your own. As far as I can tell, he is nowhere to be found yet_."_

I grinned and folded the map up. "I can still count on you for help, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes," she grumbled. "Now get out of my house. I am sick of your face, archangel."

"Please, you know you love me, Raven."

"Oh, just _get out_ already, will you?"

I grinned and dragged Castiel with me back to Singer's. We appeared right where we left Dean, but it was hours later because the sun was actually up and Sam was lounging on the couch with a book in his lap and Singer was sitting at the desk.

Sam looked up and straightened when he saw us. "Did you find something?"

I grinned and whipped out Raven's map, throwing it down onto the coffee table. "Famine's here," I said, pointing at one location, "and Pestilence is here."

He looked up with wide eyes. "Really? How'd you find out?"

"We visited a friend of Gabriel's," Castiel replied. "She used a ritual to find the Horsemen."

"So what now?" I turned to see Dean in the doorway.

I went over and lifted Sam's legs so I could sit and prop my legs up on the coffee table. Sam rolled his eyes and moved his legs off my lap. "Now, we go after the bastards," I replied. "We get their rings and lock my brother back up in his box."

Dean frowned and folded his arms. "And how do we do that? We had a hard enough time getting the jump on War, but we're supposed to go after Famine _and_ Pestilence?"

I rolled my eyes, but Castiel replied. "Gabriel and I will help this time," he replied. "It will not be so difficult with our help."

"I hope you've got some sorta plan then," Bobby said with a disbelieving look.

I raised an eyebrow. "I do, actually. Can't say it's a very good one, but it's all we've got."

"So what is it?" Sam asked, throwing the book down on the table.

"Famine won't really care about what you did to War or what we plan to do to Pestilence," I explained shortly. "Pestilence will, though. He'll get mad and trust me – we _do not_ want him mad."

Sam blinked. "So – what? We take them out at the same time?"

I grinned. "Exactly, kiddo. One of you will come with me to waste Pestilence and the other will go with Cas to take Famine out." I turned to look at Singer. "And you'll be our voice on the ground in case anything goes wrong."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Old man gets to stay at home."

"C'mon, Singer," I said with a grin. "Compared to me you're a spring chicken."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Dean asked, pushing off of the doorframe. "Let's go get the sons of bitches!"

I shrugged and stood. "All right, then," I replied. "You're coming with me, hotshot. Get your gear together."

He glared, but turned around and headed out to his car. Castiel watched him go and I rolled my eyes, touching my grace to his and giving him a nudge to go and follow Dean. He met my eye before following him out. I turned to Sam and saw that he was frowning. I sighed and nudged his boot with my toe.

"C'mon, Sasquatch," I said lightly. "Wanna have a word with you before we leave."

Sam continued to frown, but he followed me into the kitchen. I leaned against one of the counters and Sam came in looking uncomfortable. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

He rolled his shoulders slightly and avoided my gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I rolled my eyes, but let it drop. "All right," I replied. "Famine shouldn't give you too much trouble. He hasn't had much time to gather his strength yet. He shouldn't be able to affect you."

"Affect me?"

I shrugged. "It's what he does. He's Famine, after all. He makes people hungry for…well, everything. Food, sex, drugs, money – the whole shebang. But Castiel should be able to keep you protected from whatever power he _is_ able to muster up."

Sam continued to frown and glanced up at me furtively. "And you and Dean are gonna take Pestilence down?"

I nodded. "Pestilence is harder to deal with than Famine," I replied shortly. "He likes to give people diseases. _Lots_ of diseases. Castiel wouldn't be able to protect you or Dean from him even if it didn't affect him."

He put his hands on the back of one of the chairs. "Why send me with Cas? I mean, he won't want to take me with him, will he?"

I frowned. "What makes you say that?"

He snorted. "Well, it's not like Cas particularly likes me," he replied. "I'm pretty sure he only puts up with me because of Dean."

"You can't be _serious,"_ I replied in disbelief. Sam couldn't _really_ think that Castiel didn't care about him. I mean, yeah, he was in love with Dean. But he cared about Sam too.

He shrugged. "I mean, we get along all right now, I guess," he replied. "At least he doesn't want to smite me anymore."

I pushed off of the counter and leaned on the table so that Sam had to look at me. "Sam, Castiel cares about you. He likes you. Not as much as he likes your brother, but I don't think Castiel likes _anyone_ as much as he likes your brother."

"He told you that?" Sam asked with a frown.

I sighed. "He didn't _have_ to."

He scoffed. "What? You can just _tell?"_

"No, I can't just _tell,"_ I replied with a glare.

"Then how do you _know?_ I mean, he has plenty of reason to hate me or think I'm – "

"_Don't_," I interrupted. "Don't you _dare_ finish that." Sam blinked at me and I took a breath before I continued. "I know because to recharge Castiel's grace, I had to use mine to do it."

Sam glanced away in confusion before meeting my gaze again. "And? What does that mean?"

I chuckled shortly. "Well, it gives whole new meaning to the term 'soul sharing,' if you catch my drift." He still looked at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes. "You know about our grace, right?"

He nodded. "Anna said that it's…it's what makes you an angel."

"Well…kind of," I replied. "It's the closest thing we have to a soul, basically. Even when an angel falls and becomes human, they don't really have a soul. It's a sliver of their grace that couldn't be ripped away." I paused and sighed. "Back home, it's how we communicate. Or…how we _used_ to communicate. I don't think they've used it in a while by how Castiel reacted."

Sam looked away and blinked. "So you can tell…from that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, kiddo. Castiel considers you a friend." I chuckled and moved away from the table to lean against the countertop again. "He interrogated me about the Mystery Spot mess after I got back from talking to the pagans. He wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt you two again."

"I…I didn't realise," Sam replied.

I smirked slightly. "Well, as the only older brother that doesn't want him dead, it's my duty to tell you to be nice and not make him cry out on the playground."

Sam laughed loudly for a moment before smothering the noise with a chuckle. I wished he hadn't. Sam had a good laugh. A _really_ good laugh. Which wasn't good for me, because it just made the urge to jump his bones all the more difficult to suppress.

"Well, I would tell you the same about Dean, but he's more likely to try and stab you if you annoy him too much," Sam replied with a grin.

I smirked. "Well, he would _try_."

"All right, can we get this show on the road?" I turned to see Dean with one duffel bag over his shoulder and throwing another one on the table for Sam. I noticed that his face was red and when I glanced at Castiel, who was just behind him, I saw that he was looking equally flushed. Let me tell you, it was hard to hide my glee in that moment. It took a lot of self-control not to start teasing them there and then.

I grinned widely. "Sure thing, bucko." I glanced at Castiel and brushed my grace against his. He met my gaze and returned the gesture with a small smile on his face. He knew now that I was worried about him and Sam going up against Famine. Sure, he probably wasn't powerful enough to do much harm yet, but...

A tendril of Castiel's grace wrapped around mine in comfort. I had to resist the urge to smile. I pushed against his grace gently, letting him know to look after Sam. I received Castiel's humour and a push of his own, making sure I looked after Dean.

I brushed against him again before pulling away. I glanced at Sam and he was looking between the two of us with a knowing look. I threw him a grin before I turned to Dean and clapped a hand on his shoulder, taking us to the hospital that Pestilence was holed up in.

Dean looked around in confusion before glancing at me. "Pestilence is _here?"_

"Yep," I replied. "He enjoys making people sick a _bit_ too much. What better place to do it than a hospital?"

"That's great and all, but how are we going to waste him if he's in a freaking _hospital?"_

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, Dean," I replied with a grin. "Have some faith."

He scoffed. "In _you?_"

"There are about a dozen demons in there along with Pestilence," I replied, ignoring him. "He's on the fourth floor somewhere."

Dean frowned. "How the hell do you know _that?"_

I didn't look at him. "Humans are dying there," I replied roughly.

Fortunately, Dean didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what I would say if he _did_ say something. "Okay, so we break in and try to avoid getting seen. Then what? We hope we don't get spotted by a demon or completely miss the son of a bitch?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll know him when I see him, bucko. All we have to do is get in and then I can find him. We just have to be careful. He'll be on the watch for anything…suspicious."

"Meaning angel mojo powers, right?"

I chuckled. "Right."

"Well, then, let's get this show on the road."

I followed Dean into the hospital. He was used to doing things the human way, so I'd let him get us in. What? I could let other people take control. Occasionally. When the situation called for it.

Anyway, Dean managed to sweet talk the receptionist with the help of a fake badge. He spun some crazy story about how I was cooperating in an investigation with the Federal Marshals and that I had demanded to see my sister before being taken into protective services. A good story, really. Especially considering that he made it up on the fly and wasn't even dressed the part of a marshal.

"So tell me," I said as we made our way to the elevator. "What exactly were you and Castiel…discussing while out getting your gear?" I grinned at him as we crammed into the otherwise empty elevator.

He glared. "You're doing this _now?"_

"What? Is this a bad time?" I asked, feigning confusion.

He jabbed the button on the elevator impatiently. "You're an _asshole._ You know that, right?"

I grinned and shrugged as the doors of the elevator shut. "I realised a long time ago that it was better to embrace what you are and take full advantage of the benefits."

"And one of those benefits is pissing people off?"

"Are you kidding?" I asked in disbelief. "That's the best perk there _is._ Especially you and your brother. You get so _mad_ at the tiniest little things."

He glared. "Letting you know now, dude, you touch my car and you are _dead._ I don't care if you're Cas' brother. I'll deep fry you if you touch my baby."

I raised an eyebrow. "I find it interesting that you're threatening me over your car and not your baby brother. I'm taking that as permission to grope him whenever I please."

"Shut the hell up," Dean growled. "I don't want to hear about that. At all."

"What, can't handle that your little brother's gonna get some action and you're not?"

He glared, but didn't reply. I grinned and followed him out as the elevator doors opened. "What? It's not like Castiel knows anything about sex," I said and turned to throw a smirk at him. "Of course, that means you get to teach him all _sorts_ of naughty things."

Dean glared. "Don't you know how to shut up? That's your _brother_ you're talking about."

I laughed lowly, but didn't reply. A nurse came up and looked up at Dean. "This ward is quarantined," she said icily.

I stepped forward. "Really, sweetheart?" I could see the demon inside of her. It had already eaten away the human's soul. "Because I don't think it'll matter to you in a minute."

I stepped forward, putting my hand on her head and letting my grace reach out to purify the demon's soul. Her body fell to the ground and I glanced at Dean. "Let's move, Winchester."

Dean pulled out a knife from his duffel and I rolled my eyes. "That won't help you with Pestilence. He might not be a demon, but a common knife isn't gonna cut it."

He frowned. "Well, what am I supposed to use? I left Sam the demon-killing knife!"

I rolled my eyes and snatched it out of his hands. I put two fingers on the flat of the blade, running it over it slowly and burning sigils into it while I did. I did the same to the other side before handing it back to him.

He looked at the sigils with a frown. "What do they do?"

I led him down the hall. I could feel the humans getting sick and dying. I could feel where it was happening. Pestilence would be there. "Not much," I replied. "Not heavy duty enough to kill a demon, but it'll hurt 'em. It'll be enough to cut off Pestilence's ring."

He followed me, keeping pace with me. I didn't want to alert anyone that we were here. If Pestilence knew we were coming, he might try to run. The last thing we needed was another wild goose chase. "Yeah, and _how_ are we going to do that again? Because I'm not really seeing how this is going to work."

I rolled my eyes. "It's simple, dumbass. I'm going to distract him with my oh-so-awesome powers and you're going to get the drop on him and cut his finger off."

Dean shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Pestilence was at the end of the hallway. We didn't encounter any other demons or people at all. I could feel the humans in the rooms we passed. They were suffering. Sick from a hodgepodge of the most deadly diseases on the planet.

Oh, Pestilence was going to _pay._

He was in the last room on the ward. I made sure to go in before Dean. Pestilence looked up as soon as we entered. There was a young girl on the bed. A _really_ young girl. Pestilence was giving her a cocktail of diseases that could take down entire nations.

"Well, look what we have here," he said with a grin, standing up and away from the girl on the bed. "The pagan Trickster that thinks he's going to stop destiny and the asshole who stole my brother's ring."

I grinned. I _loved_ when they couldn't tell who I really was. It made the reveal _oh_ so much fun. "What can I say? I've got a soft spot for these humans."

He smirked. "Well, you've got some work cut out for you, Loki," he replied. "You won't find me easy to deal with."

"Well, we'll have to see about that."

I leapt forward before Pestilence could respond. I whipped him against the opposite wall. I didn't throw him hard enough to go _through _the wall, but hard enough so he knew that I wasn't messing around.

He stood and looked at me, cracking his neck. "It'll take more than that to scare me," he growled.

That's when it _really_ started. I lost track of all the damage Pestilence and I did to each other. It had been a long time since I had really had to tear into someone. I was out of practice. And unlike Pestilence, I didn't want to hurt the humans in the room.

So he managed to do some damage. A lot of damage.

He threw me to the ground and I felt him trying to get past my defences. After a moment, he was finally able to sense my grace. His eyes widened almost comically and he pulled away slightly. "You're…?"

I smirked. "That's right," I replied.

That's when Dean grabbed Pestilence's arm and wrenched it around. He sliced off his finger easily. Pestilence screamed and fell to the side, giving me room to move again. As soon as his body hit the ground, he vanished.

"Nice job," I muttered, wiping blood off my face. Yeah, that's right. Angels can get injured. Usually, we fix ourselves up pretty easily, but it can happen if we're up against a tough enough opponent. It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while it does.

"Yeah," he replied, holding out a hand. "You too." I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. Sure, I could've done it myself. But Dean Winchester helping you up? That wasn't something that was offered – especially not to angels.

Once I was on my feet, I walked past Dean to the hospital bed. The little girl looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. I smiled down at her. "Hey, sweetheart," I murmured. "You're not looking so hot."

She sniffed, but didn't reply. I smiled and put my hand on her head, letting my grace burn away the remnants of Pestilence's diseases. The actual diseases would have vanished as soon as Dean cut off Pestilence's ring, but some symptoms would still be left behind.

The little girl smiled when I pulled my hand away. "Who are you?" Her voice was still small and weak, but it was out of shock and a little fear. She wasn't sick anymore. When an archangel does a healing, it's not half-assed. This little girl wouldn't have trouble with hospitals anymore.

"Gabriel," I replied with a grin. "Now I've gotta go, but I expect you to stay healthy, all right? I don't want to see you back in here."

She frowned. "But I'm sick," she said quietly. "I've been here a long time."

I smiled. "It won't be a problem anymore, sweetheart. Just keep yourself safe, all right?"

I stood and turned back to Dean. He was looking at me in confusion. "C'mon. I've got some miracles to work and I'd like to get them done before dessert."

What? Did you think I was just going to leave an entire floor of people deal with the after-effects of Pestilence's cocktail of diseases? These people had dealt with quite enough. Of course, it meant that I might have difficulty in dealing with Death and trying to get his ring (he probably wouldn't be happy about being cheated out of so many human souls), but I would deal with that when it came to that.

It wasn't until we had gone through most of the floor that Dean said anything. "Why're you doin' this? They'd be okay, wouldn't they?"

I shrugged. "Probably," I replied. "But they've had a hard enough time without having to deal with the after-effects of the Bubonic Plague or whatever else Pestilence stewed up."

He was quiet as I finished up with the last patient. "You were good with that girl," he muttered. "I didn't expect…"

"Didn't expect what?" I asked defensively. "That I could be nice?"

He shrugged. "Well, you aren't exactly the easiest guy to get along with."

I rolled my eyes. "The only angels older than me are Michael and Lucifer," I replied. "You think I didn't spend most of my life looking after those kids?"

Dean blinked. "Never thought of it that way," he murmured. I shoved my hands in my pockets and went out to the hallway. I leaned against the wall and watched as Dean looked at me sideways. "You mentioned that you knew Cas…back then."

I raised an eyebrow. "You wanna know what Cas was like when he was a kid?"

He folded his arms across his chest and didn't meet my gaze. "So what if I do?"

I shrugged and took pity on him. If there was one thing that Dean Winchester had a problem with, it was asking someone for something. Especially if it wasn't for a job. "He wasn't much different," I replied. "He followed me around like a lost duck or something. Always asking questions." I shook my head. "He's pretty young by our standards. Most of the others didn't really pay attention to the fledglings." I laughed slightly. "They were more fun than everyone else – even with the wide-eyed looks of awe."

Dean was quiet for a minute. "You know, you're not all bad, Gabriel."

I chuckled. "Finally come around, then? What changed your mind?"

"We're not that different, I guess," he replied simply. "Now can we get back to Bobby's and make sure our brothers didn't get side-tracked by a book or something?"

"They would, wouldn't they?"

He nodded and I grinned before putting my hand on his shoulder again. I made sure we were right where we left – in the kitchen of Singer's place. It was later than I thought. We had left in the middle of the day and it was evening now.

That wasn't what was troubling, though. The most worrying thing was Singer. He was sitting at the table with a half-empty bottle of alcohol. Dean was immediately worried. "Bobby, what happened?"

He didn't look up. He took a long drink and shook his head. "All went to hell," he muttered drunkenly.

That's when I felt Castiel. His grace was all _over _the place. He wasn't even reaching out to me – he was projecting all over the place. He was afraid. And worried. _Shit_ was he worried. I turned to Singer.

"_What's going on?"_ I growled. _"What happened?"_

Singer didn't reply. "Gabriel. Leave him be."

I turned to see Castiel in the doorway. He looked worse than I've ever seen him. He wouldn't meet anyone's eye and I could still feel how worried and scared he was. I went to stand in front of him. "Castiel," I said seriously. "What happened?"

Suddenly, Castiel's grace went from all over the place to locked up tight. He looked down before speaking. "Famine was more powerful than we imagined," he murmured.

Then I knew. I _knew_ what had happened. And _damn _if I didn't hate myself for sending Sam to Famine instead of taking him with me to Pestilence.

I could help Sam in a moment, but first I had to get Castiel to calm down. I put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. I wrapped my grace around his, ignoring the fact that he was trying to cut himself off from me.

"Castiel," I said lowly. "Let me in. _Now."0_

He swallowed and had a look of complete fear in his eye. He did, however, open up so that a sliver of his grace was open for me to reach. I made sure that he knew I understood what had happened and that I didn't blame him. I made sure he knew that I still loved him and would kick the ass of anyone who _did_ blame him.

He looked up at me with wide eyes and he shook his head slightly. "Gabriel – "

I tightened my grip on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, little brother. Downstairs?"

He nodded and I turned to Dean. "What's going on?" He asked. "Where's Sammy?"

"Listen to me carefully, Dean, all right?" I said calmly. "Famine was more powerful than he should have been. He was able to screw with Sam's head."

Dean shook his head. "You don't mean – "

I nodded. "He made Sammy crave demon blood."

"Son of a bitch," he swore lowly.

I stepped towards him. "Now you listen to me, all right?" I met his gaze evenly. "This wasn't his fault. It wasn't Castiel's fault. There aren't gonna be any blame games, all right? I'm not cleaning up that mess."

Dean blinked, but finally nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "Okay." He paused for a moment. "I wanna stay with him. I don't want him in there alone."

"No," I said firmly.

He frowned. "Excuse me?"

"It's too dangerous for you to be in there," I explained. "When he starts detoxing, he could hurt you. I won't let that happen. I'm not putting any of you in that position."

"You think I fucking care? I'm not leaving my brother alone in there and there's no way in hell you're gonna stop me!"

I shook my head. "It's not to protect _you_, moron," I told him harshly. "Do you _want_ your brother to have a nervous breakdown? If Sam finds out he hurt one of you while detoxing he will _never_ forgive himself."

Dean shook his head. "So what? I'm supposed to leave him down there by himself? _Again? _No way, Gabriel. No _fucking _way."

"He won't be alone, idiot," I said, turning and heading towards the basement. _"I'm_ going to stay with him. He can't hurt me."

I didn't wait for a reply. I made my way down to the panic room and didn't listen to Castiel try and apologise to Dean. I knew Dean wasn't going to blame him. If anything, Dean would blame himself. There was no way he would let it go so easily.

When I opened the door to the panic room, Sam looked up. He was huddled in a corner, his arms wrapped around his legs. If he wasn't so tall, he would have looked like a little kid. "Get out," he said weakly.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "Sorry, kiddo," I replied. "No can do."

He looked up and glared. "I could hurt you," he replied angrily. "Gabriel, just get out already!"

I rolled my eyes and sat on the bed (even though it looked like it was carrying about twenty infectious diseases) so that I could look at him. "You can't hurt me, Sam. And we're not leaving you alone in here."

Sam avoided my gaze and looked down at his knees. "You don't have to say 'we,'" he grumbled. "I know they're all up there trying not to kill something."

I leaned back on my hands and shook my head. "No one's mad at you," I said calmly. "In fact, I almost had to tie your brother down so he wasn't the one to come and keep you company."

He looked up with a frown. "What?"

I shrugged. "He didn't want you down here alone."

Sam scoffed. "You can't be serious."

I sighed. Damn these Winchesters and all their issues. _Of course_ I had to like the humans that were the most difficult, didn't I? I got off the bed and knelt in front of Sam, forcing myself into his line of sight. "I'm only gonna say this once so you better listen up," I said seriously. "No one here blames you. If anything, it's my fault. I'm the one that sent you after Famine."

He shook his head. "You're not the one that drank _demon_ _blood_, Gabriel! That's on me."

When he tried to look away, I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. _"No,_ it _isn't,"_ I retorted. "Sam, there was no way you could have resisted Famine's influence."

"So? I still craved it," he argued. "It could've been anything – anything at all – and it was _demon blood_ that he made me want."

I shook my head and moved my hand to his cheek and inched my way closer. "Famine looked inside you and found the thing that would hurt you the most."

He held my gaze and I could see how scared he was. _Damn it_. It was my fault. I should have been there. Or I shouldn't have sent _him_ there. Either way, it was my fault. Sam shuddered with a tremor and I could tell that his detox was going to start soon.

"You'll stay with me?"

I grinned and nodded. "Course I will, Sammy."

He smiled slightly before leaning forward slightly and kissing me chastely. When he pulled away, I grinned before sliding over to sit next to him. "I guess you wanna know what happened, right?"

I shrugged. "I can get the story from Castiel if you don't want to talk about it."

Because I was pressed against Sam's side, I could feel that he was starting to shake. "It started out all right. Cas was having a hard time pinning him down – couldn't figure out where he was hiding out. By the time we had…it was already too late for me." He turned to look at me and shifted slightly. "I made Cas lock me up in the bathroom, but…Famine sent demons after me. They unlocked me and I – "

I leaned over and nudged him gently. "You can skip that part, Sammy."

He nodded. "When I got there, he had Cas trapped in holy fire. Famine had a dozen demons with him. He wanted me to drink them too."

"Sam – " I started. He interrupted me, though.

"I didn't do it."

I blinked. "What?"

"I exorcised them," he replied. "Famine uh…he swallowed their souls or something so I killed the souls. It hurt him and I cut off his ring and let Cas out. Then we came back here."

I shook my head. "You just keep surprising me, you know that?"

He frowned. "Why?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Sammy, you resisted a direct temptation from Famine. If he wanted you to drink those demons down, then he was pulling out all the stops. The fact that you used the craving to take him out? That's big."

Before Sam could reply, he started shaking violently. I grabbed his head before he could bash it against the wall. "Gabriel – "

"S'okay, kiddo," I murmured. "You'll be okay."

The fit didn't last very long. It was only the beginning, though, and we both knew it. "I hate this," Sam murmured. He was slumped over and his head was sagging against my shoulder. I sighed. He sounded like a kid. It reminded me of how things were back home before I left. When all my little brothers would come crying whenever Zachariah or Uriel or Raphael had been too rough on them.

I sighed and put a hand on his knee. "I know," I murmured. "I can help, if you want."

I could feel him frown even though I couldn't see his face. "How?"

"I can use my mojo on you and make you sleep through everything," I replied. "You interested?"

There was a long pause. "No," he replied. "No, I'm good."

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Sam, just let me put you to sleep."

Sam pushed away from me and sat up straight. _"No,_ Gabriel. I'm not just going to _sleep."_

I shook my head. "Fine. Have it your way."

We sat quietly for a few moments and Sam shifted back over so that he was next to me. "Wanna tell me about angelic physiology now?"

"What?"

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "When we first got here, you said something about knowing Cas when he was a fledgling. You told me to ask you about angelic physiology later."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, what d'you wanna know, Curious George?"

Sam and I spent over two days in the panic room. Whenever he wasn't hallucinating or seizing, he would ask me questions. And let me tell you – _damn_ is the kid intuitive. He would only stop asking when the pain got to be too much. Whenever that happened, he would curl up on the bed or on the floor and try to make himself smaller. A feat – let me tell you. Oddly enough, he would always try to get me closer too. He'd latch on to my arm or knee or whatever was closest to him and refuse to let go.

I won't go into specifics of what happened. Sam would get embarrassed if I revealed _too_ much. Let's just say that when the door to the panic room opened, things were better than the last time Sam had to detox.

Castiel, Dean, and Bobby were on the other side of the door. I went first, a hand on Sam's elbow to pull him along with me. When he saw our brothers and Bobby, I felt him stiffen up. Before I could do anything, Dean was moving towards Sam and had his arms wrapped around him. I watched as Sam blinked and returned the embrace.

Dean pulled away, but kept a hand on Sam's shoulder. "You okay, little brother?"

Sam blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied. He glanced at me before looking back at Dean. "Gabriel took care of me."

He nodded and looked at me. "Good. Now I don't have to kick his ass."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try, Winchester."

He rolled his eyes and Castiel shifted nervously. "Sam. I – I'm very sorry."

Sam shook his head. "It's not your fault, Cas. Don't worry about it."

Castiel nodded and Bobby rolled my eyes. "All right, all right," I said. "Can we get this show on the road? We've got three of four rings, but we still need Death's."

I nodded. "Yep. And let me tell you – Death is _not _going to be easy."

Dean scoffed. "Please, how hard can it be after Famine and Pestilence? And War?"

"You're an idiot," I said, making my way upstairs. Sam was right behind me and I knew that the others wouldn't be far behind. I flung myself on the couch and stretched as Sam moved my feet so he could sit down. Bobby sat at the desk – per usual – and Dean stood next to Castiel with his arms folded.

"So _why_ am I an idiot?" Dean asked.

I scoffed. "You think you can kill Death? _Please._ Guy has got an ego bigger than mine and that's saying a _lot."_

"So what do we do then?" Sam asked. He still looked rough. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. In short, he wasn't looking too hot.

I shrugged. "Try to bargain with him."

"Bargain with Death? You're crazy, idjit."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Singer."

He glared. "It's _Death._ What've you got that he's gonna want?"

I shifted and sat up straight. "Look, he's _Death._ And soon he's going to be forced onto Lucifer's payroll. I can't see him being too happy about that." Dean and Bobby looked suspicious and I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about it. Castiel and I can handle it."

"How you gonna find the son of a bitch anyway?" Dean asked.

I leaned back. "Well, he's not even around yet. He's locked up like Lucifer was and has to be let out. Lucifer hasn't gotten around to it yet." I stood and grinned at my brother. "We'll get to it. After we get some sleep, of course."

Before Bobby or Dean could protest, I grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him up. I dragged him into the room I had created for them. Of course, I created a door and a wall between the two beds while I was at it.

"Gabriel, what are you doing?"

I flopped onto the oversized bed and smiled genially. "What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

Ah, there it was again. The infamous bitch-face. "Gabriel."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I was _hoping_ you'd get a good night's sleep."

He laughed. "I think you were _hoping_ for something different."

"What can I say?" I asked with a shrug. "You are a hot piece of ass, kiddo."

I had to resist the urge to grin when he blushed and avoided my gaze. "I'm not gonna sleep with you," he replied, sitting on the bed. "Not yet, at least."

I frowned. "And why's that?"

He came over and sat on the bed next to me. "Aside from the fact that my brother's on the other side of that wall?"

"Oh, _please._ As if he could hear us if I didn't want him to."

Sam shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he replied. "Call me a girl, but I'm not jumping into a relationship with you. Yeah, I like you and you're making up for all the stuff you did. But I'm not really a one-night stand kind of guy, Gabriel, and you can't fool me into thinking that you'd be interested in staying after this mess is over."

I blinked. I'm going to be honest here – that? It was a swift kick to the gut. Yeah, I knew logically that he had a point. I knew that there was no reason for him to think I would stay. I had already said that I knew they didn't expect me to stick around.

But I wanted to. Even then, I wanted to stay. I didn't want to go back home even if we managed to take care of Michael and Lucifer and the Apocalypse. Not right away, at least.

I wanted to stay with Sam and his stupid brother and Castiel.

I brushed it off though. I was still me, after all. I wasn't going to let on that what Sam said hurt. "All right, Sammy. I can take a hint." I hopped off the bed and made for the door. "I'll leave you alone. All you had to do was ask."

"Gabriel, wait – "

I didn't wait, though. In retrospect, it probably would have made things easier in the long run. Would have fixed the whole misunderstanding right away. But I'd never been a "big picture" kind of guy. So I ignored him and went back into the living room to find Castiel sitting with Dean on the couch. Close. _Very_ close.

"Sorry to break up the make-out session, baby bro, but we're going to see Death now."

Castiel turned to look at me. He didn't move away from Dean and I could feel him reaching out with his grace. I tried to block him out, but I couldn't. No matter how much I wanted to keep it to myself, I couldn't block him out. I wanted that contact. I couldn't resist it for anything.

I felt his grace twist around mine. After a moment, the simple brush turned into comfort. "Gabriel," he started.

"Later," I said, shaking my head. "Can we go?"

He nodded and turned back to Dean. Before I could so much as move, Castiel had a hand on the back of Dean's head and was pulling him closer. And let me tell you something – I had no idea my little brother could kiss so well. He must have been a fast learner.

It didn't last long and when Castiel pulled away he stood and looked at me. I grinned at Dean who was futilely trying to hide his embarrassment. "You say a word and I – "

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, bro. I've got some ideas on where we can find Death."

I led Castiel to one of the many deserts in Israel. He didn't even look around when we touched down. "Gabriel, I am sure he did not mean – "

"Can we talk about this later? We've got a horseman to find."

I tried to turn away, but Castiel grabbed my arm. "He cares for you."

I glared. "And he thinks that I'm going to jump ship as soon as the Apocalypse is over! I spent nearly three days in that panic room staying with him – I told him things I've never told _anyone_ before. And he thinks I'm gonna leave! What am I _supposed_ to do, Castiel?"

He smiled slightly. "You should prove him wrong."

I held his gaze for a few moments before rolling my eyes. When did we get so corny? That would _have_ to stop. "All right, so here's the thing – there are about a dozen different rituals that can open up Death's cage. Our dear older brother, of course, is going to use the worst one."

Castiel frowned. "Why?"

"Because only one of the rituals will bind Death to his will," I explained. "It also happens to be the bloodiest. He's gonna have to kill an entire town of people where there was a lot of bloodshed in the past."

"Facing Lucifer is not a prudent thing, brother," he replied.

I shook my head. "We're not going to, baby bro. He hasn't done the ritual yet, so we have time to swoop in and foil his plan."

Castiel was quiet for a moment. Then his eyes widened. "You want to release Death first."

"Yep."

"You're insane."

I laughed. "Maybe," I replied. "Look at it this way – if _we_ let Death out, then we're saving a whole town of people from getting killed."

"How can you be sure that we will complete the ritual before Lucifer?"

I smirked. "Well, that's the thing. Lucifer's ritual is a lot more…_complex._ His ritual has a lot more steps to it than the one we'll use. We're just letting Death out – we're not trying to bind him to our will."

Castiel sighed. "I don't like this."

I grinned. "I'll take that as consent. Let's get this show on the road, huh?"

Again, I'm not going to bore you with the details of our ritual. Because it really was boring. A lot of chanting and sigils and complicated circles and dead languages. Plus, the last thing we need is a bunch of average humans trying to use ancient rituals to summon Death.

To make a long story short, the ritual worked and Death stepped onto the Earth.

It took him a few moments to make himself up a human form, but when he did I wasn't surprised by the appearance. Older, thin, pale, and dark hair. He smirked when he saw us. "Now this, I didn't expect."

I could feel Castiel tense up next to me. I smirked. "Well, we didn't do it for free."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"The way I see it, we just saved your ass from being bound to our brother's every sadistic, insane whim," I explained. "We just want one little thing in return."

He looked at me knowingly. "You want my ring, don't you?"

"That's right."

"And why should I hand it over? You've already saved me from your brother's clutches."

I rolled my eyes. "And you know that he's not going to stop now. He's going to keep trying to get his hands on you." I smirked. "You give us your ring; we can stop that from happening."

He paused for a few moments. "Very well," he said calmly. "But I have a stipulation."

My eyes narrowed. "And what's that?"

He smirked. "If you cannot find an alternative, you kill your brother yourself." He smirked. "Or I'll come after you, Gabriel."

I felt my jaw tighten. If I didn't agree, we wouldn't get the ring and everything would be shot to hell. If I _did_, then I might have to kill Lucifer. A contract with Death was binding. Even to an archangel. And I didn't want that. That's why I joined up with the Winchesters to begin with.

"Of course, if you don't find that agreeable, there's another solution." He raised an eyebrow again. "You could always let the vessels say yes."

"What would _that _accomplish?" I growled.

He shrugged and was forcing himself to appear nonchalant. "Even imprisoned, I have heard stories about those Winchesters," he said. "Rather incredible stories. I have no doubt that if they tried hard enough, they could regain control of their bodies."

"No," I said immediately. "If it comes to it, I'll fight Lucifer. I won't let them say yes."

He smiled and pulled off his ring. "As long as we have a deal." He dropped the ring and vanished. I sighed and picked it up before turning back to see Castiel staring at me.

"Gabriel – "

I shook my head. "I'm not letting them say yes, Castiel," I replied. "If I have to fight him, I have to fight him. I'm not gonna let Lucifer or Michael have them."

Castiel reached out with his grace. "I will help you," he said seriously.

I shook my head. "No."

He frowned. "I can help, Gabriel."

"You can't. Even if you could, I wouldn't let you." I sighed and turned to him. "Only an archangel can kill another archangel, little brother."

Castiel stepped forward and wrapped his grace around mine. "It doesn't mean I cannot help you."

I met his eye and realised just how lucky I was. What were the chances that Castiel would be the one that pulled Dean out of hell? What were the chances that he would want to stop the Apocalypse with the Winchesters? It had to be my Father's work. There was no other explanation.

"You're too good for me, Castiel," I replied.

He frowned. "Are you all right, Gabriel?"

I smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine, baby bro."

He continued to look at me suspiciously, but nodded. "We should get back to Sam and Dean."

I shifted and avoided his gaze. "Yeah, I guess."

"Everything will…work out between you and Sam, brother."

I rolled my eyes. "Didn't I say I didn't want to talk about it? Let's go."

"Very well," he replied before flying off. I sighed before following him. I wished I could get a market on his hopefulness. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.


	7. Seven

_**Chapter Seven: Knowing That Your Family Is A Bitch to Deal With Is One Thing – Actually Having to Deal With Them Is Another Altogether**_

I thought that after we got Death's ring it would be smooth sailing.

Then Dean woke up from a dream and said that Anna wanted to meet them. They had to tell me, of course, about her fall from grace and how she got it back again. It was decided that Castiel and I would go to meet her.

We knew it was a trap, of course. Castiel and I both knew that whatever she was planning wouldn't be good news for Sam or Dean. They argued, of course. They believed she wouldn't hurt them or something like that. We knew better.

When she appeared, she looked at me in confusion before looking to Castiel. "The Winchesters don't trust me?"

Castiel shook his head. "They do. I know that you are not the same as when they knew you."

She glared. "Oh? Because you let them take me, Cas?"

Great. So not only did Anael decide she was going to be called 'Anna' now, but she had picked up the Winchesters nickname for Castiel. "It was…a mistake. I'm sorry for your pain."

She blinked. "You've changed."

"For the better," he replied.

"Who's your friend?" She glanced at me warily. I grinned. Damn, my cover was _good._ If Anael couldn't tell I was an angel, then no one but the other archangels would be able to tell.

I smirked and took a step forward. "What's wrong, Anael? Don't you recognise me?"

I watched as she tensed up. Her hand tightened around the knife in her hand even though it was an average knife and wouldn't hurt me at all. "Who are you?"

"I know it's been a while, but really? You don't recognise me?" When she kept looking at me in confusion, I grinned. "C'mon, Anael! I taught you to fly!"

Her eyes widened. "Gabriel? No, you're – "

"Dead?" I asked cheerfully. "Nope, I came down here and got a faceplant."

She blinked. Then she connected the dots and looked at me in horror. "You…you went to the _pagans?"_

And _there_ was the reaction I didn't get from Castiel. I shrugged. "Very bloody, but a lot more fun than our family, let me tell you."

"Gabriel, that's – "

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now you wanna tell me what you planned on doing with that knife?" She stiffened and I could tell she was going to try and lie. Not a good idea, on her part. I practically _created _lying. Well, that's not true. Ironic as it was, considering that he was always spouting about how he'd never lie, Lucifer created that particular art form. I just refined it. "And don't try to lie to _me,_ Anael."

She straightened and looked me in the eye. "Sam Winchester has to die."

I glared. "See, now that's a problem. Because I happen to _like_ Sam Winchester."

Castiel frowned. "Why do you wish to kill Sam? He has done you no wrong."

"He is the vessel of Lucifer. If he is destroyed, then Lucifer cannot take this world."

I glared and summoned my blade. "Try _anything_ and you'll have _me_ to deal with. You want to fight that battle, Anael?"

Her eyes widened and they flicked to Castiel. He met her gaze. "I will not help you, sister," he said lowly. "Sam is my friend. There is another way."

"You're both _fools,"_ she spat. "Another way? Sam Winchester will break. He _will_ say yes and the world will burn."

I grabbed her by the coat collar and pressed my blade against her throat. "He's stronger than you think," I growled before throwing her down. "Get out of here. Touch any of the Winchesters and you'll pay the price."

She glared up at me before flying off. I sighed and tucked my blade into my jacket before tucking it away. Little known fact – our blades? They're pretty much a physical bit of our grace. Whenever we're not using them, we can break down the physical form and tuck them back into our grace if we want to.

"Sam and Dean will not like this," Castiel said.

I sighed. "They're not gonna know," I replied strongly.

Castiel frowned before nodding. "Very well, Gabriel. But they are going to ask questions."

I smiled. "I'll handle it. Don't worry."

"Well, well, well. Isn't that touching?"

Castiel and I spun around to find none other than Zachariah. Even if I hadn't seen him in centuries, I recognised that tone of voice. It couldn't be anyone _but_ Zachariah.

"I have to say, I didn't think Anna would _actually_ lead us to the Winchesters. I was sure that following her wouldn't get us anywhere," he said with a grin. "I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come, Castiel."

"You do not scare me," he said lowly.

His gaze hardened. "Maybe I should."

I stepped forward and grinned. "Yeah, but you'll have a hell of a time scaring me, Zachy."

"And why is a _pagan_ with my rebellious brother?"

I grinned and folded my arms across my chest. Obviously, Zachariah needed to brush up on his eavesdropping skills. "Well, he's more fun than you are, that's for sure."

He glared and stepped forward, putting his hand on my head. "I think it's time you were wiped from this planet."

I smirked as he tried to smite me. It was cute, really. When he frowned at me, I pushed him backwards so he went flying. "Nice try, Zachariah, but you can't smite _me._ I'm older than you."

He got to his feet and after a moment his eyes widened. _"You!"_ He spat. "It can't be you! You're _dead!"_

I shrugged. "What can I say? I'm hard to get rid of."

"What are you doing with _him?"_

I slung an arm around Castiel's shoulders and grinned. "What can I say? I happen to like the kid. Like I said, he's a hell of a lot more fun than you."

He shook his head. "Have you lost your _mind_, Gabriel? Michael will not sit by and let you – "

"Michael won't do a damn thing," I retorted. "He's not following orders anymore, Zachariah. Dad might be gone, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

"What do you mean?"

I stepped away from Castiel and shoved my hands into my pockets. "I _mean_ that the Apocalypse is over. I'm not letting it happen."

Zachariah moved forward with a snarl and his blade was in his hand. "It is written. It _will_ happen. You can't stop it."

I smirked, but Castiel was the one who replied. "Just watch us," he said lowly.

That's when everything went to hell. Again. See, I didn't expect Zachariah to actually react violently. He had always been one of those "look before you leap" and "bark is worse than his bite" types. So I didn't see it coming when he dove at Castiel with his blade.

Luckily, Castiel must have been expecting something like that. Zachariah managed to get him on the ground, but Castiel grabbed his forearm, holding it back so the blade couldn't touch him. I leapt forward, pulling Zachariah away from him. As soon as I started pulling him away, he started slashing his blade haphazardly.

I didn't see him hit his mark, but I heard Castiel's strangled gasp of pain.

I _may_ have lost my temper.

I threw Zachariah back so he slammed against the wall. I turned to see that Castiel was holding a hand against his chest. I could see his grace spilling out from a thin, but deep slash across his abdomen. I turned back to Zachariah and started thoroughly thrashing him.

All I could think was what would have happened if he _had_ managed to hurt Castiel. I could tell from Anael's and Zachariah's reactions that I would not be welcomed back home with open arms. Castiel was _it._ He was the only family I had left that I could count on to actually be a brother to me. I could only think about how young he was and how brave and how he couldn't die. How I couldn't _let him_ die. He had too much to live for. More than any of us.

It wasn't until he had a hand on my shoulder that I stopped and realised what I was doing.

"Gabriel," he murmured. "Stop."

I swallowed and tried to breathe evenly. I looked down at Zachariah – he was incredibly bloody from my beating. I might have been a bit harsh. I had completely lost control and had beaten not only his vessel, but his grace. Yeah, that _is_ possible. It's not easy and doesn't happen often. In fact, I'm not sure if it ever _had_ happened. Because to harm another angel's grace you had to be _mad._ Angels don't get mad very often.

Apparently I had been more than a little angry.

I glared down at him. "Touch him again and I'll kill you. Got it?"

Zachariah just blinked up at me so I turned to Castiel. I wrapped my grace around his and tried to soothe his pain. Our blades don't leave any ordinary wound. It hurts us more than anything else in the universe – even more than Holy Fire. It burns and freezes and feels like we're being ripped apart. Frankly, it was a miracle that Castiel was even standing.

I put a hand on his shoulder and flew the both of us back to Singer's.

Unfortunately, the Winchesters were waiting up for us. Sam noticed us first. "Gabriel? Is Cas - ?"

I led Castiel into the room I had made for the boys, making him lie down on one of the beds. Sam and Dean both tried to follow me in, but I blocked them as soon as Castiel was settled. "You have to leave."

Dean glared and tried to push me out of the way. "The hell we are! What's wrong with Cas?"

I pushed them backwards so that they were out of the room. "Castiel will be fine. Zachariah showed up and got a lucky shot in."

"Let me in there, you son of a bitch!"

I grabbed Dean's shirt collar, pulling him down to my level. "Listen to me, Winchester. I get that you care about my brother. But if you want me to help him, then you _cannot_ be in that room. I'm not taking any chances. You come through that door, I hope you plan on getting a walking stick because you might not have eyes to see with."

I let him go and glanced at Sam. He nodded and I knew he would keep Dean out. I turned back around and shut the door behind me. Castiel looked up at me when I sat next to him. "That wasn't necessary."

I ignored him and moved his hand to put my own over the wound. "This won't be fun," I murmured.

He swallowed, but held my gaze. "Do it."

You see, healing another angel was difficult. When we heal a human, we use our grace to fix anything that might be wrong. But like I mentioned earlier, our grace just doesn't work that way. Trying to heal another angel was like grace-sharing on steroids. On really massive steroids. To heal Castiel, I would have to try to jumpstart his grace so he could fix the wound on his own.

Yeah, it was stupid. But it was the only way to do things.

I started slow. It probably wouldn't make things any easier, but I didn't want to dive right in and hurt Castiel anymore than he was already hurting. Even so, he whimpered from the pain. I tried to comfort him as much as I could while doing my best to fit our graces together as much as possible. It was an odd feeling. It wasn't like before when Castiel let me in. He was hurt and his grace was locked up tight to protect from further pain. I had to force myself in which was painful on both of us.

It didn't feel _right._

Fortunately, I was able to move quickly and within minutes Castiel was healing. He was unconscious – not uncommon with that sort of injury – so I left him. As soon as I opened the door, I was assaulted with questions.

"What happened?"

"How's Cas?"

I sighed and opened my mouth to answer. I never got to it, though, because I started swaying. Sam was at my side and led me to the couch before I could do anything. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and leaned my head back against the couch. "Yeah, just…tapped out, I guess you could say." I hadn't realised just how drained I felt. I knew that healing Castiel would take a lot out of me, but I didn't realise _just _how much.

"What happened? Is Cas all right?"

I closed my eyes, refusing to look at them. I hadn't been so tired in centuries. "He'll be fine," I replied. "He's healing. Resting."

The couch sagged next to me and I figured it was Sam. "What happened?"

"After Anael left, Zachariah showed up. He was following her to see if she'd lead him to you two," I explained briefly.

"Anael?"

I waved a hand tiredly at Dean's question. "Anna. I knew her as Anael." I sighed. "Anyway, old Zachy wasn't too happy about our plan to stop the Apocalypse. I didn't know he had such a temper on him."

I felt a hand on my forehead and knew that it was Sam. "You look like shit. What's wrong?" His hand moved from my forehead to my hand. "And why does it look like you went head-to-head with a brick wall?"

I opened my eyes and ran a hand through my hair. "Healing an angel isn't like healing a human. It's hard. I'm just tired, that's all." I sighed again before wiggling the fingers of the hand that Sam was studying. "And I may have lost my temper with Zachariah."

Dean didn't wait for more explanations. He went straight to Castiel, shutting the door behind him. I sighed and leaned back again. I heard footsteps and figured Bobby was off to do more research. Or at least _pretend_ to do research. That's all he seemed to do nowadays. I could practically hear him sitting in his study and calling us all 'idjits' every hour of the day.

Sam stayed, though. His hand was still on mine, but I didn't bother trying to figure out what was going through his head. I was too exhausted. Why did my family have to be so difficult to deal with?

"You sure you're okay?"

I opened my eyes and glanced at Sam sideways. He was looking at me with a frown and really did look worried. "I'm fine," I replied. "Just give me a couple hours and I'll be back to annoying the shit out of everyone in no time."

He shifted slightly so he was sitting slightly to the side and looking at me. "You know, what I said before – about not jumping into a relationship with you? I didn't mean – "

I shook my head. "It's fine, Sam. I get it. Just…let it go, all right?"

He glared. "No, I won't. Because you're not _listening."_

I turned my head to look at him, though I continued to use the back of the couch as a pillow. "You already said it all, Sammy."

"You never let me finish," he replied.

I sighed. "All right, then. What else is there to say, Sasquatch?"

He glared and if I hadn't been so exhausted I might have grinned. His bitchface was just _so _amusing. "If we actually manage to stop this thing, then you're gonna go back to heaven, Gabriel. You can't tell me you don't want to go home – I know that you do. You said yourself that you weren't going to stick around. And I get…attached. It's stupid for us to get involved when we know how it's going to end."

For a few moments, I was too stunned to say anything. Then I rolled my eyes. "You're an idiot, Sam."

He blinked. "What?"

"It's okay," I told him, "because I'm an idiot too."

He glared. "What are you talking about, Gabriel?"

"First off, I never said I wouldn't hang around. I said you wouldn't _want _me around. And you think if we got involved I'd just run back home? I haven't been home in centuries, Sam, a few more years won't kill me," I replied. "And so help me, if you spout out some self-sacrificing crap about not wanting to _hold me back_, I will kick your ass."

He rolled his eyes, but I could tell that he was trying to hide a smile. "We're really stupid."

I grinned. "Yep," I replied cheerily. "We can make up for it, though."

Sam grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? How's that?"

"Well, it involves me on top of you and some wandering hands," I replied with a raised eyebrow.

He laughed and leaned over to press a kiss to my forehead. It was so sweet I thought it would give even _me_ a cavity. "Maybe when you don't look like you're ready to pass out."

I chuckled and closed my eyes again. "I'm gonna hold you to that, kiddo."

I felt Sam's fingers twist around mine and could hear that he was smiling when he said, "Good."

We sat like that for a while. I'm not sure how long – just that it wasn't nearly long enough. We were interrupted when my head suddenly felt like it was exploding. I knew what it meant. It hadn't been that long ago when the sensation had been accompanied by Castiel's voice proclaiming that Dean Winchester had been saved.

If heaven was resurrecting a human, there was no doubt that it did not bode well for us. I clutched at my head and shot to my feet. Sam blinked up at me in confusion. "Gabriel? What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Do _not_ let Castiel leave that room," I ordered before flying off. I might not know who was being resurrected, but I could tell where they were. I arrived in the middle of some woods in Minnesota.

As soon as I touched down, a ring of Holy Fire erupted around me. I swore under my breath when I saw Raphael. "Gabriel," he said lowly. "So you really are alive. I wasn't sure whether to believe Zachariah or not."

I glared. "Well, sorry to disappoint," I spat. I gestured to the fire that was trapping me. "Is this really necessary?"

He smirked and I wanted to give him a good smack. Raphael had always been a brat. No, really. Always whining and complaining and thinking he was better than anyone else.

"If you had not decided to interfere, it would not have come to this." He turned and walked to a patch of earth that was shifting before a hand finally reached up and out. Raphael reached down and pulled out a young man.

When Raphael let him drop to the ground, I spoke up. "Who the hell is he?"

He turned to me and smirked in a way that made me very, very nervous. "This is Adam Milligan. He is the half-brother of those humans you and our younger brother have such affection for."

My eyes widened and I shook my head. "No. Raphael, you can't _do _this!"

"Yes, brother," he replied, "I _can."_

"This is _wrong,"_ I spat at him, stepping as close to him as I dared. "This isn't what Father wanted. If He wanted it so badly, He would have stayed!"

Raphael's gaze hardened and I realised just how much my little brother had changed since I saw him. He might have always been a brat, but he had always done the right thing. He had been a _healer._ He wasn't supposed to be…_this._ "Our Father is dead, Gabriel."

"He's not dead. He just doesn't want to be found. If He doesn't want to be found, He won't be. You _know_ that, Raphael!"

He was quiet for many moments and just stared at me. "We missed you. Did you know that?" His voice was quiet and he sounded like the brother I remembered. The one that would follow Michael like I followed Lucifer. The brother I had before all the fighting started. "We waited for you to return. Michael and I told the others you were dead, but we never stopped waiting for your return."

I avoided his gaze. "Raphael, I – "

"_No._ You _left_ us, Gabriel. You left us and never looked back." He glared and moved so that he was a step away from the fire. "And when you finally reveal yourself, it's not to return to us. It's to fight _against_ us. With _humans. _You should have stayed dead, brother."

Before I could say anything, he vanished and flew away with Adam. Probably taking him somewhere so they could convince him to say yes. I stood in shock, unable to come to terms with what was happening.

It was over. We didn't have a hope against Lucifer _and_ Michael. And they would be itching for battle as soon as they both had vessels. Even if the vessels weren't Sam and Dean. There was no way we could stop them from fighting. We'd never be able to get to Lucifer fast enough to get him back in his Cage and Michael would never let that happen. Especially if I was trapped here.

I was going to lose them. Sam and Dean and Castiel and Singer. Addy and Sigyn and Kali and Coyote and Raven. _Everyone._ They were all going to die and I couldn't do anything about it because of a fucking _ring of fire._

When I fell to my knees and smashed my fists against the ground, it was like another person had done it. When I swore violently, it was like another person was talking.

"Well, well. Now what do we have _here?"_

I looked up at the voice. It was a demon that was wearing an expensive looking suit and had a smirk on his face. I frowned. There was something familiar about him.

"A Trickster trapped by holy oil," he said, walking around the ring of fire. "Isn't that interesting?"

Then it clicked. I _knew_ this demon. _"Crowley?_ What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

He grinned. "Glad to see you remember me, Loki." He raised an eyebrow. "Or should I call you Gabriel now?"

I glared. "I should kick your ass. You tried to kill me last time I saw you."

Crowley smirked. "It was only a difference of opinion, darling. No hard feelings."

I rolled my eyes. When Crowley and I last saw each other, which was also when we met, I was setting up a trick on a human he was trying to seal a deal with. Crowley got in the middle and was not happy about his mark fleeing before the deal was done.

"Well, how about you let me out of this thing and we can call it even," I said, standing and looking the demon in the eye.

When he grinned, I knew it would be hours before he let me out – if he ever did. "Now where's the fun in that? I've got an archangel all tied up in a pretty little bow. I'm sure I could fetch a pretty penny if I spread word of _this_ little occurrence."

I opened my mouth to reply when I heard a voice behind me. "Stop being so rude, Crowley. Gabriel has people waiting for him to come home."

I turned and my eyes widened. _"Chamuel?"_

Chamuel was an angel. Most humans believed he was "the archangel of love." That's not quite true. Yeah, he is a gigantic marshmallow and all for the "make love, not war" ideal. But he's not an archangel. Not exactly. He's more powerful than your average seraph since he's older, but he's nowhere near as old as Raphael or I. He _was_ older than Zachariah, though.

His vessel was a young man with dark hair and blue eyes. He looked very suave and well-spirited. It fit Chamuel well. He was wearing, like Crowley, a suit. I had to wonder what it was with my brothers and suits. It was like they didn't realise they could change clothes.

"Hello, Gabriel," he said before smiling so widely I thought his face might split in half. "I am so happy to see you. We thought – "

I shifted and avoided his gaze. "I know, Cham. I'm sorry."

The ring of fire fizzled and died and I stepped out of it immediately. Before I could think, Chamuel was wrapped around me in a hug. I could feel his grace pressed against mine. Cham was always a bit…overenthusiastic. He didn't just brush his grace against mine – he attacked it in an embrace that was as tight as the hug he currently had me wrapped up in. "We missed you so much," he said in my ear.

I laughed and returned the hug before pulling away. "I think you're exaggerating a bit there, bro. No one but Castiel has been too happy to see me."

Chamuel smiled even wider. "I cannot wait to see Castiel again. He has been so brave."

I frowned and nodded. "Yeah, he has. Uh, Cham? How do you know that?"

"Have _you_ ever tried saying no to the blubbering idiot? It's impossible," Crowley said, putting his hands in his pockets. "No one can say no to him. He can find out anything he wants."

I glanced between the two of them with a frown. "What are you two doing here anyway?"

"We were having tea," Chamuel said.

"_Tea?_ Why?"

Crowley scoffed. "Because unlike most of you uptight angels, Chamuel here has impeccable taste. He joins me for tea often."

I turned to look at Chamuel with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged and smiled. "I find Crowley's company enjoyable. He is not like other demons."

"Okay, then," I replied, still confused as to why Chamuel was on Earth having tea with a demon. "But why are you _here?"_

Chamuel frowned. It was funny, though. Even when Cham frowned, he still looked happy_._ I wasn't sure if he was capable of looking sad or angry. "You and Castiel are planning to fight our older brothers. We came to help you, Gabriel."

I blinked. "You do realise that our chances of stopping this thing just dropped _astronomically,_ right? Raphael just raised a vessel for Michael. It won't be long until Michael and Lucifer decide that waiting is pointless and start going at it."

"Call us stupid, then," Crowley said with a smirk. "Personally, I'd rather not see either win this battle. They're both just so racist."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, because you're such a saint."

Crowley put a hand to his chest. "That hurts_ oh _so ever much," he said sarcastically.

"Crowley, be nice," Chamuel said.

The demon rolled his eyes and I turned to Chamuel. "Let's roll, then. We've got plans to make and people to call." I grinned. "Follow me!"

I wasn't surprised that when I arrived in Singer's living room, it was to find Sam and Dean trying to hold Castiel back from coming after me. I knew he wouldn't stay willingly, but _I_ still felt weak from the healing. Frankly, I was surprised Castiel could even stand upright.

As soon as he saw me, he stumbled a few steps forward and latched onto the front of my shirt. He nearly collapsed against me and I had to grab at his elbows to keep him up. "Woah there, little brother," I said with a frown. "You really shouldn't be up and around yet."

He glared at me. "What happened? Who is it?"

I sighed and forced him backwards to the couch, making him sit while I brushed my grace against his to see how badly he was hurting himself. I let my fingers brush against his forehead and sighed in relief to find that it wasn't too bad. "Raphael resurrected Adam Milligan."

Sam and Dean both exclaimed, _"What?"_ behind me.

Castiel frowned at me. "Who - ?"

"He's John Winchester's son," I replied. "These idiots' half-brother."

His eyes widened. "Michael intends to use him as a vessel," he said lowly.

I nodded. "Yep. And Raphael tried to trap me in a ring of holy fire."

"But how did you – "

"Well, isn't this…_quaint."_

I turned away from Castiel to see that Crowley and Chamuel had arrived. Sam and Dean were immediately on attack mode, of course. They both had guns in their hands in an instant.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked roughly.

I snapped my fingers and the guns were in my hands. I threw them on the couch beside Castiel and shook my head at the Winchesters. "Do you two even _know_ how to act around people?"

"Gabriel, who _are_ they?" Sam asked, eyeing both of them warily.

"My brother, Chamuel, and his…friend?" I glanced at Chamuel who grinned and nodded. "His name's Crowley."

I could practically hear Castiel frowning behind me. "Chamuel? What are you doing here?"

Chamuel frowned. "What happened to you, Castiel?" He strode forward and I could tell from the look on Castiel's face that he was giving his grace the same treatment that mine received.

"Zachariah," Castiel replied simply.

He glanced at me. "You healed him?"

I shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? Let him bleed all over the place?"

Chamuel laughed and hugged Castiel tightly. "I'm glad to see you happy, brother," he murmured.

"Not that this little reunion isn't touching," Dean growled, "but what the hell do you mean that Raphael _resurrected_ Adam?"

I sighed and sat on the couch next to Castiel. "Michael got antsy, I guess," I said with a shrug. "Decided that you weren't going to say yes or Zachariah told him I was with you two and he got nervous. Either way, he had Adam resurrected and Raphael took him." I paused and shook my head. "They'll make him say yes and he won't just sit on his ass. Neither will Lucifer. They know what we're up to and know we have a chance of stopping it. They'll jump the gun and get things over with."

Sam sank down into one of the armchairs looking miserable. "So what do we do?"

"What you _do_ is call up all your little hunter friends and tell them to get their hides over here if they want to stop the devil," Crowley said contemptuously.

"And how d'you plan on doing _that_?" Bobby asked from the doorway. "And even if we somehow manage to beat the devil back into his box, what're we gonna do with Michael?"

I shrugged. "If we can get Lucifer back in the box, Michael might back off. He never really wanted to fight Lucifer – I don't think he'll really want to fight me either."

"That's a pretty big 'if,'" Dean said.

I glared at him. "Well, you got a better idea?"

"The _smart_ thing to do would be to throw Michael in the Pit along with Lucifer," Crowley said snidely. "But why do the smart thing?"

I stiffened and glared. "That's my _brother,_ demon," I growled. "It's bad enough that I'm going to throw one back into hell, but you want me to throw another?" I folded my arms across my chest. "And I'm certainly not throwing an innocent _kid_ into the Pit. He might be able to survive being a vessel if it isn't for too long."

Crowley shrugged. "Fine, then. Do things the hard way."

"What we have to do right now is get everyone together. Sam, Dean – call your colleagues, friends, enemies, whoever the hell you can get to help. Singer, I know you've been calling around. Let them all know that they need to get their asses here _now._" I turned to Chamuel and Crowley. "Crowley, if you can wrangle up _anyone_ that could help us, do it. Cham, you still on good terms with everyone back home?" He nodded and I continued, "Then try to see if any of them will help us. Make sure they're only people who won't let anything slip, all right?"

To my surprise, Crowley nodded along with Chamuel and they both disappeared. Castiel tried to sit up. "And me?"

I smiled. "You and I are gonna rest, little brother," I replied. "Then we'll go round up the Tricksters and Pagans."


	8. Eight

_**Chapter Eight: The Calm Before the Shit-Storm – Basically An Interlude Where You Can Get Your Wits Together Before We Throw You Right Into the Action**_

Within the next two days, Singer's Salvage turned into a house for every kind of being under the sun. There were demons and humans and angels and Tricksters and gods and goddesses and even a vampire that didn't drink human blood that the Winchesters had saved.

Frankly, it was a blast. Well, after all the business was taken care of. Castiel and I had pulled the prophet out of his little hidey-hole and away from Raphael so that we would know when Lucifer and Michael made their move. We instructed everyone that we would be splitting up into groups – two groups would be tasked with keeping Michael and Lucifer busy. Another group would be waiting for a chance to open the Cage and get Lucifer back in it.

It wasn't a good plan, but it was all we had. With the firepower we had on our side, we actually stood a chance.

You already know which of my, for lack of a better word, friends were helping us. There was Coyote, Anansi, Raven, Reynard, Sigyn, Fenrir, and Kali. Though, admittedly, Kali kept to herself. She only popped in to check in with us every couple hours to make sure nothing was happening. Fenrir mostly stayed outside – he wasn't interested in "fraternising with humans," as he put it.

Crowley managed to wrangle up a couple demons, but to be honest I never really interacted with them. They got too nervous if I came anywhere near them. Which didn't bode well for the fight, but they were all we had.

Chamuel convinced a few seraphs to join us. I didn't know them very well – only by name. They were all wary of me. They had heard stories and must have heard about my dalliance with the pagans. I didn't know them from back home because they were too young. Oddly enough, even though they were about Castiel's age they avoided him like the Plague. I guess they didn't care for him too much.

What was really interesting were the hunters and humans the Winchesters and Singer managed to bring over. Addy was there, of course (where would the point have been in letting her write a chapter if she didn't join us? And don't give me shit like Castiel did and say, 'There was no need for such a deviation from the narrative.' Maybe I wanted to introduce you to her! You needed to get to know the people the prophet didn't write about, right?). There was a man that was a lot like Singer named Rufus.

Bobby had called Ellen and Jo Harvelle, but it had been Sam and Dean who had convinced them to come. Let me tell you, those women were _awesome._ There were a few other hunters – amongst them a man called Creedy that had apparently tried to kill Sam and another two called Tim and Reggie who had tried to make Sam drink demon blood while he and Dean were separated (and before you ask, I _did_ make a point to put, excuse the cliché, the fear of God in them. It was _fun_). There was also a woman named Tamara who kept shooting dirty looks at Sam and Dean.

They weren't the only people the Winchesters had called. They had helped a lot of people and a lot of them had helped them out and proved to be just as capable as most hunters.

One was a sheriff by the name of Kathleen that was shocked when they told her about the existence of the supernatural.

There was a group of siblings – Haley, Tommy, and Ben – who had apparently been involved in a Wendigo attack and started hunting around their area after meeting Sam and Dean.

A girl named Kat had met Sam and Dean on a ghost hunt and started chasing after spirits in Illinois and came as soon as she heard tell of hunters gathering.

A psychic named Missouri smacked me upside the head as soon as she saw me. Of course, she still won't tell me why so I'm assuming it's for something I haven't done yet. She also told Sam and Dean that they were damn fools and they better get their act together. She said she wouldn't be doing any fighting, because _"someone_ has to feed all these hungry mouths."

Diana was a detective that had arrested Sam and Dean before letting escape when it turned out her partner was a killer. She was a quiet thing that got nervous whenever someone remotely supernatural came near her but made up for it with her marksmanship.

The most amusing people that showed up, in my opinion, were the Ghostfacers. Yes, you read that right: the _Ghostfacers._ A group of "paranormal investigators" that somehow had a knack for stumbling onto real hunts despite their complete ineptitude at hunting on their own. They were the luckiest bastards I have ever met and also great for a laugh. They had heard that something big was going down and showed up.

Of course, there was no way we were letting them anywhere _near_ battle. They would get themselves killed in about three seconds flat. But they didn't have to know that right away.

For the first three days, the hunters were tasked with showing the civilians the ropes – even the ones that had been hunting ghosts and monsters for the past few years. They needed to know how to fight up-close and personal with an archangel or they didn't stand a chance.

Mostly, it was Sam and Dean and the Harvelle women teaching. Rufus joined occasionally, but he got annoyed too easily. Sam and Ellen were the best at teaching. They were patient and didn't get annoyed when they had to repeat instructions (though we steered Sam away from the Ghostfacers – they managed to annoy him _a lot)_. Dean and Jo were pretty dreadful, though. They mostly stuck to the amateur hunters because they listened and learned better.

The biggest problem was finding a way for the humans to fight Michael and Lucifer. There weren't many things that could actually harm an archangel. It wasn't until Singer asked if there were any other Enochian sigils like the banishing one that could help them.

Let's just say that Chamuel and I got creative. There were sigils on _everything. _Knives, bullets, amulets – everything we could get our hands on. Some were for protection – Cham figured out a way to combine sigils with Lucifer's and Michael's names so that there powers would not be so effective on the humans. I was able to put sigils on the weapons that would hurt Michael and Lucifer. They wouldn't be nearly as effective as Holy Fire, but it would be enough to keep them distracted.

Castiel was the genius, though. He came up with a sigil to be put on amulets for the group that needed to stay hidden and find a chance to get Lucifer back into his cage. Once they put the amulets on, no angel would be able to see or sense them. It was brilliant. He said that there were similar sigils on the Winchesters' ribs, but the amulets were works of _art._

It was on the fourth day that people started getting antsy. Tensions were running high and Chuck was being hounded left and right to see if he had seen anything. When the quiet guy finally snapped and yelled at Chamuel to leave him the fuck alone, I decided it was time to relax.

You humans are so easy to distract. Snap up a little alcohol and things are suddenly a lot more fun. Well, maybe not a _little. _There was a _hell_ of a lot of alcohol. Of all kinds too. Had to have something for everyone, after all.

Let me tell you – it was a _blast._

_Everyone_ was drunk. Well, except for Missouri. She called us idiots and went to bed. Jo and Ellen had somehow convinced Castiel and Chamuel to take shots. After about forty, they were finally getting tipsy. Crowley and the other demons were in their own corner and alternating between trying to act like they weren't drunk and laughing raucously. After some coaxing, I managed to get the seraphs to drink as well. The humans were passing out left and right.

Sam found me in the chaos. I could tell that he was drunk, but not as much as his brother (at that point, I could see Dean pawing at Castiel and trying to drag him off to a corner or to a bedroom). Even so, he looked down at me with dark eyes and I couldn't help but grin.

"Rethinking the whole 'I'm not gonna sleep with you' thing now?"

He didn't reply. Well, unless you count kissing the hell out of me as a response. And _man _could that kid kiss. His hands were holding the sides of my face, though. His hands were so big that even though his palms were on my cheeks, his fingers could almost wrap around to the back of my head.

The kiss was slow and wet and I was pretty sure that Sam was trying his damnedest to reach my tonsils. I couldn't do much to return the kiss – Sam had to bend almost in half to reach me, so it was pretty much impossible for anything but our lips to be touching. The best I could do was force my hands into his hair, forcing him closer before pulling slightly. He moaned into my mouth and I couldn't help but tug harder.

He pulled away, though, and looked at me darkly. "I want you, Gabriel," he said in a low voice. I didn't even bother snapping my fingers, flying us to one of my hideaways. Sam blinked and straightened, looking around. The room was pretty simple as far as my hideaways went. There was a bed, obviously, and it was covered in the softest blankets that could be found. It was circular and huge – even Sam would be able to lie comfortably and have room to stretch out. "Gabriel, where – "

I pushed him onto the bed before he could finish. "Venice," I answered as I straddled his waist. "Doesn't matter, though." I pushed my hands into his hair again and kissed him before he could ask any more questions.

And _damn_ I wished I had done this sooner. Because as soon as I started kissing him, Sam responded enthusiastically. His hands were on my hips immediately and he was shoving them up under my shirt. One second he would be pressing his fingers against my waist. The next, he would be running his nails down my back. Then he would roll his hips and groan.

My hands moved from his hair to his chest and I ripped at the buttons to get it open. Sure, I could have just snapped and it would be off in an instant, but where was the fun in that? When I got his shirt open, I slithered backwards so I was straddling his thighs. I pulled him up roughly, shoving the plaid shirt off his shoulders and getting my hands under the white undershirt.

Sam was just as demanding. He shoved my jacket off and my shirt followed close behind. When my upper body was finally bare to him, he started pressing kisses to my shoulders and collar bone and running his fucking _huge_ hands down my back and arms.

And now Sam is next to me and blushing and trying to wrench the computer away from me. I don't know why he's so uptight. I mean, he's an _animal_ in bed. He should be proud and let me show off his prowess.

Uh-oh. Well, sorry for your luck, but you won't be getting the R-rated version of that little dalliance. Sam is threatening to withhold sex from me for an extended period of time and there's no way I can have _that._ So you'll have to live with the ignorance of not knowing how amazing Sam is when it comes to sex.

It was on the sixth day that Chuck finally had a vision of Michael and Lucifer in the Lawrence cemetery the next day. We started driving right away. It would have been too big of a giveaway if we tried to fly so many humans into Lawrence.

Chuck and the Ghostfacers stayed behind at Bobby's with instructions that if we didn't stop Michael and Lucifer, they start getting people prepared. It wouldn't be a _complete_ tragedy for the humans if we didn't manage to stop Michael, but if we couldn't get Lucifer back in the Pit? People had to be ready.

Sam and Dean led the caravan. Castiel and I got into the back of the Impala and we all tried not to think about how low our chance of success was. Suffice it to say, it was a long car ride. We arrived in the evening and Missouri offered up her house to be used to lodge everyone.

Everyone was quiet. We all seemed to be aware of how crazy our plan was and how little a chance we had at succeeding. I knew that Castiel was off somewhere with Dean. When we had arrived at Missouri's, I had pulled him aside.

"What's wrong?" He had asked with a frown.

I sighed and looked up at him seriously. "This might be your last chance to tell Dean about that brand on his arm," I told him lowly.

Castiel's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Gabriel, I can't – "

I rolled my eyes. "Castiel, I know Dean is a dysfunctional idiot when it comes to his emotions, but it is completely obvious that he is in love with you."

"I don't want to risk it," he replied seriously. "Dean will overreact. He will not like that a part of me is bound to him. It will…unsettle him."

"Then he can get over it," I replied. "You can't tell me you don't want him to know. I know you do." It hadn't been difficult to see. Even if I hadn't shared grace with Castiel, I would have been able to tell.

He frowned. "I'm not sure," he replied in a quiet voice.

I brushed my grace against his in reassurance. "It'll be okay, little brother. Trust me."

Eventually, Castiel had worked up the urge to lead Dean away from the crowd of people. When he walked past me, he brushed his grace against mine and I returned the gesture. Sam, who was sitting next to me, noticed and raised an eyebrow in question.

I smirked and stood, heading for the front yard. I sat on the front steps and Sam sat next to me so our thighs were touching. I had to admit, the little things like that? They made me happier than I could explain, even to myself.

"What's going on with Dean and Cas?"

"You mean other than the fact that they're hopelessly and stupidly in love?"

Sam laughed shortly. "Yeah, other than that."

I sighed. "Well, Castiel is going to tell Dean what that handprint on his arm really means."

He frowned and blinked. "It actually means something?"

I scoffed. "Of course it does, kiddo," I told him. "He comes back from hell with a handprint branded on his arm – of _course_ it means something."

Sam shrugged. "I thought it was just from pulling him out." He glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. "What does it mean?"

"Well, it's complicated," I explained. "It marks the beginning of a bond. When Castiel pulled Dean out of hell, he used his grace to do it. He must have seen something in your brother, because he accidentally tied a piece of his grace to him."

He blinked and looked at me in confusion. "What?"

I shook my head. "Like I said, it's complicated. It's not done often anymore because it can't be reversed."

"But when you say a piece of his grace is _tied_ to Dean – what does that _mean?"_

I leaned back on my hands and Sam turned slightly to look at me. "It means that Castiel trusts your brother."

Sam looked at me for a moment before frowning. "It's like…angel marriage, isn't it." He didn't phrase it as a question – like he already knew the answer.

And he was right, in a way. It was the most intimate thing an angel could do and was a show of absolute trust. I nodded. "Pretty much," I replied.

He laughed loudly and I frowned until he turned to explain. "Do you have any idea how great the payback is going to be? Dean's been torturing me about 'being a girl' for my entire life and he gets angel-married and doesn't even _know_ it! This is the best thing _ever."_

I smiled when Sam laughed again. Like I said before: Sam had _the best_ laugh. I liked to laugh and liked when other people laughed. It was easy to put a hand in Sam's hair and pull him closer so I could kiss him.

When I pulled back, he smiled. "We're gonna do this," he said. "We're going to win."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

He smiled widely and nodded. "Yeah."

I couldn't help but return the smile. I wasn't sure if we would be able to win, but if Sam had hope, I could too. I would fight my brothers for Sam and Dean and Castiel and the humans and my family. I would fight for them.


	9. Nine

_**Chapter Nine: A Fight of Epic Proportions That Really Shouldn't Have Been Winnable but for Some Insane and Ridiculous Reason Actually Was**_

The morning of the battle was mostly a blur, even to me. All I really remember is Sam. While everyone was worrying about the impending battle, he was getting everyone ready with a smile on his face.

I didn't get it.

It wasn't until Dean came up to me that I got it. I was leaning against the wall of the kitchen and watching as Sam was showing the detective one last time how to fight with a knife, laughing and congratulating her when she finally got it right. Diana was a great shot, but wasn't comfortable with a knife. She'd have to be for the fight, though. Michael and Lucifer were quick.

"He's just happy that we have a plan," Dean said as he came to stand next to me.

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Really? Cause this plan is really stupid in a lot of ways."

Dean chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But Sam's just happy we found another way." He shook his head and looked at Sam with a small smile. "He actually thinks we can do this."

I snorted. "At least one of us does."

After that, it was a matter of getting everyone to Stull Cemetery. There were so many of us and we weren't sure when exactly Michael and Lucifer were going to show. We had to catch them by surprise. For all Michael knew, I was still trapped in a ring of holy fire.

What we ended up doing was having all the humans put on one of the amulets with the sigil that would hide them and all the non-humans cloaking themselves. There was a small wood at the end of the cemetery, so we all hid there. I had instructed everyone to wait until my signal. I kept my hand clamped around Sam's even after he put the amulet on so I would know he was there. I knew that Castiel was doing the same with Dean.

We didn't have to wait long.

Lucifer appeared first and it was only moments before Michael appeared as well. Neither of them looked right. I knew it was because they weren't using Sam and Dean as vessels, but it was still strange. Lucifer's vessel was literally falling apart and Michael looked like he was ready to burst out of Adam Milligan's skin.

I could immediately sense that the soul of Lucifer's vessel was gone, but Michael's remained. I squeezed Sam's hand and whispered, "Adam's alive." The only response I could get was Sam squeezing my hand back.

Lucifer and Michael were talking. I couldn't hear them, but I could guess what they were saying. "I have to be a good son" and "I don't want to do this" and "it wasn't my fault." Really, they were predictable. After a few minutes, I saw them both stiffen. I knew they were about to tear into each other.

I let go of Sam's hand and flew right between them. I immediately pushed Michael as hard as I could and he went flying across the cemetery. I turned to Lucifer who looked at me with a glare. "What do you think you're doing, Gabriel?" He said lowly. "You can't stop this. Step aside."

"Sorry, bro," I said, materialising my sword and holding it towards him. "No can do."

Before he could do anything, Lucifer was brought to the ground by Fenrir's bulk. His giant jaws tore at Lucifer's shoulder. He managed to do some damage before Lucifer threw him backwards. I turned away from them when Sam led Jo, Kat, Creedy, Tamara, Kali, and three of the demons to fight Lucifer. Castiel joined them almost immediately as did Coyote and Reynard.

We had decided early on that I should be with the people keeping Michael busy. He was more of a threat to the humans than Lucifer. Yeah, Lucifer had been waiting for this, but Michael had been actively preparing for battle.

So I went after Michael. My blade only gave him a moment's pause. Then he had drawn his own and they were ringing against the other. Fighting Michael wasn't easy. It took everything I had to just block him. Michael was the best of the best. No one was his equal.

It wasn't long before Dean joined me. He led the group that was going to help me distract Michael. It included Crowley, Haley, Tommy, Ben, Kathleen, Anansi, Tim, Reggie, and three of the seraphs. Everyone else (Addy, Singer, Ellen, Rufus, Raven, Lenore, the other seraph, and the three other demons for those who are counting) were waiting for a chance to throw Lucifer back into the Pit. Chamuel and Sigyn were waiting as well – they were going to make sure that anyone who was hurt was taken to safety and healed.

Because there were so many of us and we had weapons that Michael and Lucifer had never seen before, we were able to hold our ground. Anansi, Crowley, the seraphs, and I managed to get a pattern worked out with the humans. The hunters would use their guns to trip Michael. Then we would move in. I would use my blade to try and get a blow in – I never hit to kill, but if I could manage to get a good cut in then even Michael would have difficulty continuing to fight. The seraphs followed my lead, but they weren't as fast as Michael even when he was injured. Crowley had a knack for being able to sneak behind Michael and use one of the knives that were engraved. Then when Michael was recovering from the bullets and was able to get his bearings again, we would move back and the humans (who had by then managed to reload their weapons) were shooting at him again.

I don't know how long it took, but I finally managed to get Michael with my blade across his stomach. He gasped and stumbled backwards and Crowley forced the knife into his back once more.

That's when everything went wrong.

Suddenly, there were angels and demons everywhere. Anael was the first angel I saw. I guess she really had gone back. Before I could stop her, she immediately mowed Tim down and then Reggie when he tried to stop her.

This was bad. The sigils were crafted for Lucifer and Michael specifically. They wouldn't do _anything._ against these angels. And we hadn't prepared for demons at all.

All the humans were in danger.

Raphael was suddenly in front of me with intent in his eyes. I blocked his blade, but he moved relentlessly. I could hear the humans scrambling, trying to find a way to fight. I heard shouts and couldn't tell you who was alive and who was dead. I had to focus solely on Raphael or risk getting killed.

"Relent or die, Gabriel," he growled over the sounds of battle.

I shook my head and pushed him backwards, not giving an inch. "Don't do something you'll regret, Raphael."

He brought his blade down as hard as he could and I blocked it before twisting away so I was behind him. I shoved him hard and had just enough time to shout, "Put your amulets on!" Then Raphael was on me again.

But I could sense the moment that the humans put their amulets back on. Well, it would be more accurate to say I could tell the moment I couldn't sense them anymore. It seemed to confuse most of the angels. Even Raphael paused to blink at the sudden change.

I leapt forward, forcing him to the ground and holding my blade against his throat, twisting his own out of his hand. "I won't let you do this," I growled.

Raphael's eyes narrowed. "Are you going to kill me, brother?"

I glared down at him. "No, I'm not," I spat at him before starting to recite a _very_ old Enochian spell. Raphael's eyes widened and tried to stop me, but it was too late. He was forced out of his vessel and back to heaven. I stood, holding a blade in each hand, and looking around to assess the situation.

I couldn't see the humans, but I knew the hunters must be taking care of the demons. Black smoke was covering the field. The seraphs were fighting off the angels. Luckily, there weren't that many. Aside from Anael and Raphael, there were only a dozen other angels. Crowley had someone managed to get an angel's blade and was mowing them down so mercilessly that I had to cringe. The five demons that were on our side were steering clear of the hunters that were shouting exorcisms and helping Crowley with the angels.

What was really troubling was that Castiel was trying to fight off Lucifer alone and Michael was heading towards them. I moved as quickly as I could – Castiel wouldn't stand a chance against both Michael and Lucifer. He was only _just_ able to hold off Lucifer's attacks.

I was hit from behind before I could reach him, though.

"Well, well," I heard a familiar voice say with what sounded like a smirk. "What have we here?"

I stood and glared as she moved in front of me. "Eris," I spat getting back to my feet.

She smirked. "Hello, Loki. Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite the mess, haven't you?"

"Out of my way," I spat. "I don't have time for you."

"I think you do."

She launched herself forward, but I stepped out of the way shoved my blade into her back. I heard her gasp of pain and I pulled her up towards me. _"Never_ stand between me and my brothers," I growled before throwing her to the ground and taking off towards Castiel.

I wasn't fast enough.

I was still halfway across the field when Michael raised his blade. He brought it down and I flew to Castiel's side, praying that I would be able to reach him in time. When I was at his side, I saw that something was holding Michael's arm back. A second later, Dean's amulet fell to the ground and he was visible again, the cord cut by Michael's sword as he tried to force it away.

Just as the sword was about to reach Dean, I leapt forward and shoved Michael away. I turned when I heard Singer's voice shouting in Enochian. His amulet had come off somehow and he was standing a few paces away from Lucifer and shouting the words that would open the cage, the rings of the Horsemen on the ground between him and the devil.

Lucifer tried to reach for the rings, to stop Bobby from finishing the incantation, but something stopped him. I frowned and watched as Addy was suddenly revealed, her amulet gripped in her fingers. She was bleeding badly – it looked like she had a gaping chest wound. She was lying on the ground between Lucifer and the rings and was wearing one of the amulets for protection and warding. Lucifer couldn't get past her.

When the ground opened up, everything went quiet. I watched as Addy started falling into the Pit. Chamuel was faster than I was and plucked her soul from her body, sending it on to heaven before she could be trapped in the cage. I knew she had been close to death and was beyond help, but I mourned her nonetheless.

Lucifer stepped backwards and I glanced at Castiel beside me, brushing my grace against his. Might as well let him know I was about to do something monumentally stupid, right?

Before I could let him talk me out of it, I moved behind Lucifer and used my blade to slice through skin and grace across his stomach like I had done to Michael. Then I pushed him forward towards the door to the cage.

He fell in.

The door closed.

Everything was silent.

Then Michael yelled behind me and I turned just in time to block his blade. He didn't stop, though. He kept coming at me and continued to slash and stab furiously. I could tell that he wasn't thinking. He was acting on pure instinct and rage.

I couldn't stop him and he found an opening, stabbing me in the stomach. He pulled his blade out and lifted it to strike me again. He was stopped, though.

"Michael. _Enough."_

I fell to my knees, hands covering the wound. Castiel was at my side immediately. He had an arm around me and I could feel his grace against mine, trying to soothe the pain. When I looked up, it was to see my Father.

He was in a different form than the last time I had seen Him. He was in the shape of a girl, probably only about twelve or thirteen, and wore a hat and loose-fitting clothing. It should have been strange, seeing my Father in the form of a girl that looked so frail and young. But I knew my Father even after all this time. I had no doubt that this form was an actual human girl. She looked like she was battling some form of cancer. I had no doubt that He intended to heal her when he was done borrowing her body.

Michael's eyes widened when he saw Dad. "Father," he murmured, the blade falling from his hands.

I blinked and turned when I felt an arm wrap around me from my other side. Sam was looking down at me with worry. I wanted to tell him I'd be fine, but I knew I was dying. Michael just hadn't made it quick. I didn't say anything, but he must have seen something in my face. The muscles in his face tightened and his eyes started to water, but he only moved behind me. His arms wrapped around me and he pulled me back so I was sitting between his legs and pressed against his chest. My head fell against his shoulder and I felt him kiss my temple.

Dad smiled and looked up at Michael. "Yes, Michael. It's me," He replied with a smirk. "You haven't been acting very well lately, have you?"

Dean had made his way to us now and he kneeled between Castiel and Sam. He put a hand on Sam's shoulder and nodded to me. I would have laughed, but it hurt too much.

"I was only doing Your will – "

He raised a hand and Michael stopped talking. "You will have plenty of time to explain your actions. But later. Go home, Michael. And leave the boy here, please."

Michael blinked and he followed the orders in an instant. Adam Milligan crumpled to the ground and I saw Sigyn kneel at his side, healing any injuries that remained. Dad moved to stand in front of Castiel. Castiel didn't move, but looked up at Him with a look of pure awe on his face.

"Hello, Castiel," He said with a smile. "I have heard a lot about you." He laughed when Castiel's eyes widened and he swallowed. "Don't worry. It's all been good. Better than good, actually. You were the only one that realised what I wanted all of you to do."

He blinked and looked up at Him with a frown. "I don't understand," he said lowly.

"I wanted you to make a choice," He replied. "I wanted all of my angels to find something to believe in and choose to defend it." He knelt down and put the girl's frail hand against his cheek. "I want _all_ my children to have free will. Following orders should not be everything." He smiled and even though it looked weak on the girl's face, it was brilliant and bright with His light. "You did well, Castiel."

I watched as Castiel swallowed and nodded. "Thank you," he murmured, "…Father."

Dad smiled and, still kneeling, looked at me. "Hello, Gabriel," he said. "It's been a while."

I chuckled and ended up coughing. "Y'know me, Dad," I replied roughly. "Always gotta be the stupid one."

He smiled again, though it was smaller this time. "I wouldn't say that," He replied. "Though you have had smarter plans before."

Sam's arms tightened around me. "Fix him!" He exclaimed and I could hear the tears in his voice. He sounded almost exactly like he had when he had pleaded with me in Broward County.

Dad blinked and looked at Sam evenly. "Why? Is he important to you, Samuel?"

I could feel Sam swallow and nod. _"Yes," _he replied strongly. "You can't let him die. You _can't."_

Dad studied him for a moment. "You prayed often," He said simply. "You always asked me to protect your family. To keep them safe. Never once did you pray yourself. Why is that, Samuel?"

Sam shook his head. "Why does it matter?"

He smiled slightly. "Humour me."

After a few moments, I felt Sam shake his head again. "No. If you're really God, then you already know why. Just _fix_ him." He paused and I was reminded of the Mystery Spot again. "Please."

I wasn't surprised when Dad smiled widely. He always liked when humans challenged Him. He looked down at me and I could feel Him healing me. He was knitting my grace and skin back together and I could feel that His love and forgiveness and pride in me.

"You are lucky to have Sam by your side, Gabriel," He told me with a smile.

I nodded, but raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and You have _nothing_ to do with that, right?"

He smirked and I could tell that He was amused. "Are you accusing me of meddling, son?"

I rolled my eyes and turned to Sam who was looking down at me with wide eyes. "Are you – ?"

"I'm fine, Sammy," I told him simply, kissing him lightly.

As we all stood, Dean glared at Dad. "So that's it? You think you can come in after everything that happened and expect everything to be _okay?"_

Dad looked at him with a hint of a smirk. I knew that He was amused by Dean's anger. The Winchesters were Dad's favourite kind of humans. The ones that questioned any and all authority, but still managed to do good things.

"I'm sorry for what you have been put through," He said evenly. "But you have to understand, Dean – I had to give everyone a chance to _choose._ I can't help that you and Samuel are faster at learning than everyone else."

Dean glared. "So what? Sam and I had to die and be put through hell just because you couldn't _tell_ them that they needed to make a choice? What the _fuck?"_

Dad raised an eyebrow and smiled at Dean in amusement. "If you tell someone to choose, then it isn't freewill, Dean. I want my children to have freewill. Humans, angels – you both deserve such a gift." Dean opened his mouth to reply, but Dad shook his head. "No, Dean. I'm sorry, but there is no time to argue. I have work to do."

I blinked, but Castiel was the one who spoke. "You are returning to Heaven?"

Dad looked up at him and smiled. "For a time," He replied. "It's a tiring job, don't you agree? I'll probably need to take another vacation in a couple thousand years."

He turned to leave, no doubt, but I stepped forward. "Father."

"Yes?" He turned and smiled.

"What about me and Castiel? Do…do You want us to come home?"

I could feel Castiel stiffen next to me. I knew that he was just as scared as I was. We didn't want to go home. We wanted to stay with Sam and Dean. But if Dad asked us to go back to heaven, I wasn't sure if we would be able to refuse Him.

He smiled and looked behind us at Sam and Dean. I couldn't look at them. If the answer wasn't the one I wanted, I didn't know how I would be able to look at them.

"What do you say, boys?" He asked. "Would you like Gabriel and Castiel to come back to Heaven with me?"

They answered immediately. _"No!" _Sam exclaimed as Dean cursed, _"Fuck_ no."

Castiel and I both turned to glance at them. Dean was glaring at Dad while Sam was looking at Him with tight lips and wide eyes. When I glanced back at Dad, He was grinning. "Well, you heard them, boys. I have a feeling if I tried to take you away from these two, they'd try and come after me."

Sam's hand slipped into mine, gripping it tightly. I looked up and he was smiling widely. I squeezed his hand back and returned the smile. I turned back to Dad. "Thank you," I replied tightly.

He raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't mean I won't expect to see you every now and then," He replied. "But I'll let you get settled first. Now, I have to go talk to your brothers. Especially Michael and Raphael. They haven't been doing very well since I left, have they?"

I shook my head. "What about the girl?" I asked before He could leave.

He smiled. "Her name is Natalie. I will return her to her family before leaving."

I raised an eyebrow. "And heal her too, right?"

"Why, Gabriel," He replied with a grin, "I thought you knew me. I've already healed her."

I shook my head and then He was gone.

"What the _hell_ just happened?" Dean asked in disbelief.

I grinned and turned to face him. "What happened is that we just _won,_ Deano." I smiled widely and pulled Sam down so I could kiss him hard and fast. "We _won!"_

Sam smiled widely in return and bent down to kiss me again.

We knew that there was still a hell of a lot we had to do. There would be people to heal and friends to mourn. There would still be monsters to hunt and demons to stop.

But we won. We saved the Earth.


	10. Ten

_**Chapter Ten: A Wrap-Up Since I Know You Silly Humans Always Want to Hear About The Happy Ending (Though This Isn't Really An Ending, but We Won't Discuss Semantics)**_

After the battle, we discovered that we had lost a lot of people. Many others were injured, but Chamuel and Castiel and Sigyn and I were able to heal them. Along with Tim and Reggie and Addy, there were ten other deaths. Tamara, Creedy, Lenore, Kathleen, Raven, Coyote, Fenrir, and Haley were all killed. The deaths that hit the Winchesters the hardest were Ellen and Rufus.

We held a funeral almost immediately. As soon as we were able to heal everyone, we gathered the dead. With the exception of Rufus, whom Bobby insisted on burying, we wrapped in linen and built a pyre. It had been a sombre affair and no one felt like celebrating when all was said and done.

For days, Jo and Bobby wouldn't speak to anyone. When we got back to Singer's place, they locked themselves in the panic room with enough alcohol to kill several grown men. They didn't come out for almost three days.

I admit that I didn't handle the deaths of Raven, Coyote, or Fenrir very well. They had been my family. Just as much as Castiel or Chamuel or Michael or any of my other brothers. They were my family and I had gone to them for help. They were dead because they wanted to help me.

It would have ended in a lot of moping had it not been for Sam. Even though he was mourning Rufus and Ellen (who I knew he had seen almost like a mother), he did his best to cheer me up. He would leave to get groceries and come back with a bag of vegetables in one arm and a bag of candy in the other. He would ask me about the old Norse myths and want to know which ones were true. He would ask about Biblical figures and want to know what they were really like.

We spent a few weeks at Singer's. Within a month, the number of people had dwindled back down to Dean, Castiel, Sam, Singer, and I. It was comfortable, being back to normal. But the Winchesters could never sit still for long. They always had to be hunting something. It was just who they _were._

So we worked out a routine. Whenever Sam and Dean went on a hunt, Castiel and I would visit home. Occasionally one of us would stay with the brothers if we thought they were hunting something they would need help with, but Castiel and I mostly stuck together.

Things back home were different. The majority of our brothers and sisters had never met our Father before. Now He was back and He was _active._ He didn't just relay orders to Michael and Raphael and I like back in the old days. He talked to everyone. He went everywhere. If He wanted something done, He would ask someone to do it Himself and would sometimes even help them do it.

It was good even if most of the angels were wary and still stuck in how things used to be.

We went on like this for nearly a year. Sam and Dean would go on a hunt, Castiel and I would visit home, we would get back and help finish the hunt if they weren't done already, and then we would spend a weekend (sometimes even a week) just relaxing. Sometimes we would split up and Dean and Castiel would go somewhere while Sam and I went somewhere else. Other times we would just stay in whatever motel Sam and Dean had been staying at.

It was after a year that I decided enough was enough.

We were in Kentucky and Sam and Dean had just finished up a hunt. We had decided to go out to eat, so we were sitting in a little diner. Sam and I sat across from Dean and Castiel. Castiel and I had discussed my idea while in heaven and I brushed my grace against his so that he knew I was about to bring it up.

"So," I said. "Boys. Bro and I have been talking."

Dean snorted. "That's never a good sign."

I rolled my eyes. "What we were _thinking_ is that we find a place to stay that's better than these shitty motels."

Sam frowned. "You mean staying at more expensive places? Gabe, we don't have that kind of money." Shut up. Yeah, he called me 'Gabe' occasionally now. It's kind of sweet.

"_Please_. You know I could get the money, kiddo," I replied. "But that's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?" Sam continued in confusion.

Castiel is the one who replied. "Gabriel and I believe that we should get a house," he said simply.

"A _house?"_ Dean asked incredulously.

Sam frowned. "You're not serious, are you?"

I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. "It's not _that_ bad of an idea," I grumbled. "You can still hunt. It's not like there's anything _hard_ to hunt anymore."

Dean laughed. "You're joking, right? You want the four of us to get a _house?"_

I glared and turned to look out the window. "Fine, then. Forget about it." Castiel's grace brushed against mine in commiseration. He hadn't known at the time, but I had already gone ahead and bought a house. It was in Minnesota and about half a day's drive from Bobby. Frankly, it was gorgeous. It wasn't as big as some of my hideaways, but I knew that Sam and Dean would have felt odd in a house that big.

It was still beautiful, though. It wasn't completely unlike their old house back in Lawrence. It was two stories and had a spacious attic and basement. It was stone from the outside and had a huge yard and was isolated enough that no one would question our comings and goings. It was big enough that we wouldn't bother each other, but that we would still be together.

After their reactions, however, I had thought it was stupid to think that the Winchesters would ever want to settle down.

Sam nudged my shoulder so I would turn to look at him. "Are you serious, Gabriel? You and Castiel want to live with us?"

"Yeah," Dean said, "I mean, we won't exactly be fun to live with."

I glanced at Castiel and he looked at Sam and Dean seriously. "You are our family," he said firmly.

"We want to stay with you," I said quietly, glancing first at Dean and then at Sam.

Sam grinned widely and looked at his brother. After a moment, Dean shook his head and smiled. "All right, then. I guess we're going to have to start looking for houses."

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna regret this?" Sam asked with a grin.

I grinned and shrugged. "You probably will," I said. "But we can always distract you whenever you get too annoyed."

And that's that, really. I hope that satisfies your curiosity about what happened to us after we stopped the Apocalypse. I'm not quite sure to do with myself now. I've spent a long time writing this out. Hopefully someday someone will actually read it. I can't be sure quite yet.

Oh, and when all you humans get to heaven and ask if any of this really happened or not? I'll be there. Of course, I probably won't tell you. Where's the fun in that?

"Gabriel? What are you doing?"

I turned from the laptop to see Sam standing in the doorway of the study. I had pretty much taken up residence there while writing the story of the Apocalypse. In fact, they had trouble dragging me away from it. Sam was squinting and in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I grinned up at him when he ran a hand through his incredibly messed-up hair. "I just finished, Sammy!"

He frowned. "Then will you come back to bed already? I'm getting really sick of sleeping alone, you know."

I glanced back at the laptop before pushing the lid down to close it. "Sure thing, kiddo."

He moved forward and leaned down to pull me in for a slow kiss before wrapping his arm around me and leading me back to our bedroom. We settled down in the blankets and he pulled me close. Whenever Sam was sleepy, he always wanted to cuddle. I didn't need to sleep, but I loved lying with Sam. Sometimes I would sleep, if only because it was nice to wake up in his arms.

Yeah, I'm a sap. But I don't really care anymore. Now I know that I love Sam and that's all I really cared about anymore. Sam and Dean and Castiel are the only family I needed these days.

For the first time in my entire life, I was _happy. _Actually, legitimately _happy._ I laid there with Sam and wondered vaguely what my life would be like if I hadn't gone to help the Winchesters.

I decided I didn't care. I was here. Sam was here. Dean and Castiel were on the other end of the house that we owned.

We were home and we had everything we needed. It was enough.

_**the end**_

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